


Escaping the Cold

by MelanisticLioness



Series: Escaping the Cold [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 07:57:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2101728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelanisticLioness/pseuds/MelanisticLioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikasa and Annie had an unusual relationship. The two rarely even got the chance to speak to one another until a picture taken by Annie at a party sets a spark of curiosity between the two. Despite gradually becoming closer, they still struggle to understand one another. Will the fire destroy them, or bring them warmth from the cold and cruel world in which they are living?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Slip

         It was late last summer the first time she laid eyes on her. Tall, at least taller than Annie. She had ebony black hair and a body that anyone could have died for, the kind Annie had been working towards for years.  
         It was her brother’s birthday, and Mikasa was the type to more or less stay in the background until it was evident that someone or something had the grace of needing her attention. Watching everyone around her, it was quickly becoming a boring place to be. She was perched on the steps, her damp body wrapped in a loose white shawl to give her the slightest bit of coverage when she was away from the pool.   
         She watched Eren, who was in a closely scored match of pool volleyball with Jean, of whom decided it was best to show off whenever possible.  
         Ymir and Christa were together as always. They were over in the corner of the pool, with Sasha talking avidly about something as she used her hands more than her mouth. Reiner and Bertholdt were cannonballing and thoroughly soaking everyone within an eight foot radius, while Hitch and Mina were lounging by the snack table, seeming to ignore one another.   
         Mikasa counted on her fingers who she had invited with Eren; there was Jean, Mina, Hitch, Ymir, Christa, Sasha, Armin, Bertholdt, Reiner, Marco, and.. Annie.  
         Annie and Mikasa had a weird relationship. Mikasa didn’t mind her, honestly. It was the way Annie looked at her that completely set her livid. Sometimes, the two would interact okay when they had to. Normal daily conversations behind open locker doors, mundane comments rushing from class to class, and being forced to work together on the rare occasion they should be paired for a partner project during class. Annie was a fine girl. She wasn’t obsessed with anything that most of the girls at their school were. She was rarely caught up in cliques or drama or drugs, and she didn’t participate in many clubs. Her life outside of class was almost a puzzle with no corners to start with, and a very blurred picture to make.   
         Annie’s friends were mutuals with Mikasa’s. They spoke constantly. This forced a lot of interaction between the two, be it good or bad. Sometimes, seemingly at random, Annie would make a sour face when the other girl would approach her. She would walk away, even going at great lengths to avoid her, walking around the entire school instead of cutting through the middle courtyard, as per usual.. But no matter what, the thing that pissed Mikasa off about the whole situation the most was that she would go as far as glare from the other side of the room, slam her locker door, and face away from her table during class. Talk about holding a grudge over something that probably didn’t even happen.   
         Holding her cup of soda in hand, Mikasa found herself grimacing over at the other girl over on the opposite side of the pool, who was fascinated with an app on her phone. She wondered what held her attention so diligently, and why Annie had even bothered to come if she was just going to sit in a corner the whole time and ignore everyone around her. She found herself hoping that Reiner would cannonball hard enough to ruin her little moment of peace when Annie suddenly looked up from her phone and straight over in her direction, slight concern and wonder forming itself on her face, as if she were judging her.   
         Mikasa felt as if something were desperately wrong with the way she looked over at her. Feeling immediately uncomfortable and self conscious, she turned her gaze to the sidewalk and took a sip of her now lukewarm and syrupy sweet soda. Gross.  
         “Hey, Annie! Get over here!” Reiner belted at her from the pool. Annie quickly turned her attention from one person to the other, shaking her head at him which was full of wet hair that clung to her pale forehead. “No, thanks. I’m freezing.”  
         Reiner responded with a splash to her ankles, to which Annie jumped at before immediately grabbing a pool noodle, picking it up, and running towards the ladder into the pool…  
         … but not before carefully locking her phone and wrapping it safely around her towel.  
         Eyeing the space that Annie had just left vacant, she decided to go join Hitch and Mina up on the deck to refill some of her soda.   
         Apparently, she walked into something brewing between the two.  
         “Yeah, so then I asked her why she thought that, and she never really gave me a straightforward answer, you know? She more or less just started talking about how-”  
         Hitch looked up at Mikasa, seeming shocked, and then smiled a bit too brightly and giving an airy laugh. “Oh, hi Mikasa.”  
         “Hello..?” Mikasa said, with a questioning air. Everything that came out of Hitch’s mouth seemed played and preplanned. She never really enjoyed conversing with her. “Is everything alright?”  
         “Everything is fine,” Mina joined in quickly.  
         Odd. Something very much bothered her about this situation as well. It was even faker than usual.  
         The girl’s spoke for a few more minutes. School. Boyfriends. Who likes who, who did what, who said what about who.. it was redundant and Mikasa felt as if her participation was neither wanted nor needed. She wondered why she was even suspicious of their conversation being surreptitious in the first place. The gossip nearly made her sick until Annie walked by briskly, into her house from the porch. The strong smell of chlorine followed her.   
         Mikasa didn’t even need to excuse herself from the two other girls, who were chatting about who knows what by then, when an idea struck her. She slipped away, unnoticed, over to Annie’s little green lounge chair where she swiftly picked up all the towels and took them back inside, padding her damp feet along the hard tiled floor as she dumped them onto the top of the washer. She began rifling through them.   
         With her and Eren’s father gone on a business trip and their mother passed away of cancer about a month ago, Eren and Mikasa had adapted to living on their own. The house was eerily silent, except for the faint screaming of teenagers coming from outside, Sasha’s shrieking being the most apparent.  
         It fell out with a hard bang onto the metal top, slipping out of the folds it was entrapped between. An Iphone with the black and white image of a lion on the case. Mikasa pressed the home button after seeing the phone itself was already on vibrate, and swiped to the right.   
         Enter passcode.  
         Fuck.   
         Was it four tries, or five, until it was disabled? If Annie had left to change, or use the bathroom, she could only have a few seconds left until she walked by again, with Mikasa caught red handed, trying to break into a phone that wasn’t hers. She typed in the first four digits of Annie’s locker combination, which she never voiced that she knew.  
         [1109]  
         The phone vibrated and shook. Wrong code. She typed in Annie’s birthday.  
         [0322]  
         Same response.  
         Mikasa tried her home address and even “1234” before biting her lip and desperately racking her brain for some sort of number that might have significance in Annie’s life. The last thing she could think of was her class number.  
         [0004]  
         Click.  
         Not knowing what to do with herself that it actually worked, Mikasa sighed in relief and leaned against the washer, surprised when an image of her own legs showed back at her.  
         Oh, right. Annie had the camera app open the last time she was on. She clicked it off and started scrolling through her apps.  
         She snickered, finding they were just as boring as she was. Snapchat. Weather. Email. Weight loss apps, Words With Friends, a flashlight app, and even a period tracker. Nothing of interest. She clicked open her text messages, and finally found what she was looking for.   
         Her message history with Hitch.  
[Annie]: But do you think she is?  
[Hitch]: I guess. I wouldn’t know, I’m not gay. I mean she’s not bad if that’s what you mean.  
[Annie]: I think she is.  
[Annie]: Be back in a bit, going to change.   
[Hitch]: What makes you say that? And ok.   
         Thoroughly confused, Mikasa scrolled up to read more. She was then horrified to see a picture of herself, sitting on the stairs holding her soda, sent to Hitch.   
[Annie]: Do you think she’s good looking? I never noticed until now.  
[Hitch]: I don’t know her that well.  
         She was beside herself. Mikasa desperately wished there was more to the conversation, but the topic seemed to end there. The rest of the subjects they talked about occurred a few days ago.  
[Hitch]: What’s the homework  
[Annie]: 1-31 odd, 34.  
[Hitch]: OK thx.   
         Mikasa was stuck on the thought that Annie had found her attractive. It was almost sickening. They had barely gotten to ever know one another personally, and some days Annie acted like she hated her, so why now did she suddenly develop some sort of spontaneous crush on her?  
         The more she thought of it, the more she came to notice that Annie was.. well, very pretty. It’s not like Mikasa hadn’t ever thought of being with a girl before. In fact, she had a girlfriend once, but had never had a boyfriend, and according to Mikasa’s own mind, she would call herself a lesbian.  However, Annie was far from the type of girl she would ever picture herself with. Annie was quiet, and smart, and.. scary. A loner.   
         Shaking her head, she clicked through and tried to find messages sent to Mina, and there were none. She assumed Annie spoke to Hitch the most, with them being roommates. Their conversations were probably more spoken rather than texted, and something about that bothered her. Walking to her room for more privacy with Annie’s phone, she was about to go through her messages with Armin before a cold voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.  
         “That doesn’t belong to you.”  
         Mikasa looked up, and Annie was close. Too close. Her face was pale and her eyes demanding, unblinking as she waited calmly for an explanation. For some reason, she was still in her bathing suit.  
         “And neither does the picture you took of me belong to you. I am pretty sure there are laws against that,” she shot back. Mikasa was leaned up against the wall in the hallway, which was between her room and the bathroom, where she assumed Annie had emerged from.  
         “I come back out to get my bag, and this is what I see. You’re snooping, Mikasa. There is nothing illegal about taking a picture.”  
         “It was of me, and you didn’t even have my permission.”  
         “That doesn’t matter, give me my phone back!” Annie held her palm out, furrowing her brow and staring daggers at her.  
         Mikasa cupped the phone in her hands protectively, walking around Annie and heading into the bathroom. “Oh, let’s see why you want this back so badly.. “Mikasa is really cute, oh my gosh, she is so good looking..”” Mikasa pretended to read her texts in a mocking, condescending tone, “Since when did you develop some sort of crush on me?” she asked, dodging to the side of the shower as Annie’s hands whizzed past her arm, grappling for the phone.  
         “I don’t.” She growled between clenched teeth, kicking the door shut and going after her again in a whirlwind of blonde hair.  
         Only this time, she slipped on a patch of water she had left there moments before. As Annie felt her chest press to the hard tiles of the cold bathroom floor only a second after impact, she became aware of an enormous weight on her back and felt the audible crack erupt from her shoulders as Mikasa sat on her back, holding Annie’s hands behind herself, bound at the wrists. She cringed at the pull of her shoulder, hissing in a breath.  
         “Start spilling, or we’ll be here all day. When did this start?”  
         “It never did! I don’t!”  
         “Liar.” Mikasa’s grip tightened, feeling satisfied by the cry she heard in response. “Tell me the truth,” she said, starting to gain more control over the volume of her own voice.   
         “Just today..”  
         “Only today? Never before now?”  
         “I mean, it was only a thought, maybe for a day or two.. sheesh, are you trying to kill me or something?” she asked suddenly, struggling and testing Mikasa’s grip on her wrists.  
         She held firm, her only advantage over the blonde being her physical height. “No, I’m not. I’m just looking for answers,” she smirked, leaning down towards Annie’s ear and whispering, “because sometimes I think about little things like this..” She would be lying if the thought of Annie having a slight crush on her didn’t pass her mind now and then. Who could hide it with the way Annie looked at her?  
         “What, the thought of my ass pressed between your legs? Or you being on top of me?”  
         The second of confusion and slight mental panic that Mikasa felt trying to think up of an excuse to explain her wording was the only second Annie needed to get the upper hand. Tucking in her knees and rolling out from under Mikasa’s thighs, she grabbed her by the shoulders and not so carefully slammed Mikasa backwards into the door, hitting her head harder than intended. Mikasa barely fought back, her only struggle being to try and sit completely upright and ignore her spinning headache.  
         “You think something like this is funny?” Annie accused, her eyes full of fury and her voice desperate. She barely resisted the urge to shake her, “I don’t even know if I like girls! I don’t know if I like anyone at all! All I need is for this to get around now. People hate me naturally, it’s already hard enough to make friends. You waving something like this in someone’s face.. are you some kind of homophobic bitch?”  
         Through her haze, Mikasa could sense how emotional Annie was getting about the subject. “I didn’t mean anything offensive by it.. I just wanted to know. It’s okay, I’m not even straight.” She felt her face burn up at admitting it, something no one other than Eren and Armin had known until now. She felt her chest rise and fall, finally starting to catch her breath after having the wind knocked out of her.   
         Annie raised her eyebrows slightly, loosening her death grip on the girl’s sore shoulders. “Oh. I didn’t know.”  
         Her voice seemed apologetic enough. Mikasa took a moment to take in her surroundings; the cold, damp tiles of the floor, the quietness of the house, and the faint sound of people outside. Annie, propped up on her own knees, still in that wet turquoise bikini with her fringe sticking to her forehead in a mix of what Mikasa assumed to be pool water and sweat. Her hands were still resting on her shoulders. “So you don’t know either?”  
         It took Annie a few seconds to understand her question, before shaking her head, crestfallen. A simple and slightly embarrassed “no” followed.   
         “When are you going home?”  
         “Whenever Reiner decides to take me home.”  
         Oh, yeah, Reiner. The person who always had to stay late at every party to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Mikasa nodded in understanding.   
         Annie looked at her, curiosity taking over her features. “Why do you ask?”  
         “I was wondering if you’d want to find out.”  
         “What do you mean?”  
         Deciding to be a little daring, Mikasa rested her hand on the end of Annie’s thigh, rubbing her thumb back and forth and finding herself satisfied with how smooth her skin was. “I’m asking if you want to have sex with me.”  
         Annie looked like nothing less than a deer in headlights. Mikasa’s bluntness left her short of breath, and cleared her mind of all words. She suddenly noticed how the small room was suffocatingly damp. “You mean.. now?”  
         “Well, yeah. While everyone else is outside.” Mikasa put Annie’s phone on top of the closed hamper.  
         “I don’t know about this..”  
         “I’d understand if you say no.”  
         “.. In here?”  
         “If you want.”

         After a few seconds of silent consideration, Annie reached a shaky hand up above Mikasa’s head to the doorknob and slid the lock in place with a satisfying click. “I don’t want anyone to know about this. And if I want you to stop, you stop.”   
         Managing a small smile of satisfaction, Mikasa laughed ever so slightly before placing her hands on the girl’s hips and drawing her onto her lap. “I’m a lesbian, not a rapist.. of course I would stop.”  
         Despite her strong composure, every small sign of nervousness and apprehension was palpable around Annie. Her averting eyes, the slight shaking, the biting of her lower lip..  
         God, she looks attractive. “What do you like?”  
         “How should I know? You’re obviously more experienced in this than me.”  
         Mikasa managed a small shrug, “Not really.”  
         “I don’t know. I like kissing people.. I guess.” She settled her knees on either side of Mikasa’s thighs, conscious of how close their bodies were, “I’ve only kissed someone once.”  
          Mikasa smiled, leaning up and beckoning her to come closer. “Who was it?”  
         “Armin.”  
         How could he have never told me this? “Wow.. really?”  
         Annie nodded, leaning down closer to her, her voice becoming very soft. “Yeah. About a year ago. We were on a hayride together.”  
         The first thing Annie became aware of that day was that another girl’s lips were softer; much softer than even the gentlest boy she had met. It took a second for her to figure out what was happening as Mikasa’s lips moved softly against hers, and that she should probably do anything but just sit there and take it. Closing her eyes, she tried to mimic the taller girl’s moves, quickly growing frustrated with how to position her head. She started to move away.  
         “Shh, it’s okay.. here.” Mikasa brought up a hand, holding Annie’s chin in place and tilting her head to kiss her lips again. They fit perfectly with her guidance.   
         In all honesty, Mikasa had never kissed anyone. Right now, she was being driven by adrenaline and instinct. The feeling was better than she expected it to be. Annie’s lips were cold and slightly chapped, but they felt fantastic against hers when she started to move.   
         Annie was the first to rub her tongue along Mikasa’s bottom lip. An accident, she was sure of it, but the feeling made her shudder under Annie’s grasp anyway as she responded in the same way, pulling her closer by the waist to gain leverage over her. It had felt great.   
         The way Annie’s lips moved against hers was nothing short of hungry. It wasn’t until she started whimpering and slightly bucking her hips against her now and then that Mikasa knew just how badly she had been holding in her hormones. She pulled away from the kiss for a second and averted her eyes, catching a glimpse of how fluid Annie’s movements against her were. “Can I touch you?” she whispered, embarrassed.  
         With her eyes glazed over, Annie blinked a few times before nodding, clasping her hands together behind Mikasa’s neck. Eventually, hesitantly, Mikasa reached her hands over and rolled her swim bottoms down her legs, her eyes lingering on the slick spot in the middle before putting them aside on the ground.  
         All of her confidence rushed out of her, and Annie squirmed at the way Mikasa eyed her like prey. “What is it?” she asked.  
         “Nothing. You’re really wet.”   
         Her response was simple, but Annie’s knees nearly buckled when she felt the first trace of Mikasa’s fingers along her entrance, feeling her out. _'Her hands are freezing..'_  
         It felt great when a finger slipped inside her, but a second made her rest her forehead against Mikasa’s shoulder, moaning helplessly.  
         “Do you feel uncomfortable?”  
         “No.. please..” Annie couldn’t help but grind herself and slightly ride on the other girl’s fingers, desperate for more stimulation. She had done this herself at home, several times, sometimes more than once a night. It had never felt as good as it did now, with someone else at the other end, with Annie being unable to feel herself doing it. She became indulged in the thought of Mikasa’s fingers being buried inside her.  
         Mikasa turned her head into the crook of Annie’s neck and kissed her there harshly as she fingered her, pumping in and out. As Annie moaned again and kept moving in time against her fingers, Mikasa could physically feel how horny she herself was becoming, but no way was she going to let her have any dominance.   
         She dragged her fingers out of Annie with a satisfying wet sound before rubbing her clit in gentle circles, biting down on her neck. She could hear Annie practically panting next to her ears, and she felt her hot breath on her collarbone.  
         “Please, harder.. press harder, I like it like that.”  
         “Mmm..” Mikasa hummed against her neck, “I don’t know. I never pegged you as the begging type.”  
         “I’m not begging.”  
         “You so are.” She obliged anyway, pressing a bit harder after every few strokes and trying to make a game out of which she thought gave Annie the most pleasure by the look on her face. She stopped her movements completely when she showed signs of orgasming, and the look on Annie’s face was almost angry.  
         “What are you doing?”  
         Mikasa ignored her as she stripped herself of her shawl and bottoms, climbing over the girl with a sultry look and forcing her to lie against the edge of the bathtub, pushing her down gently with a hand on her chest. “Something good.”  
         Annie didn’t thoroughly like the idea of being completely at the other girl’s mercy, but she took her word for it. After all, she was the less experienced one here, and if she were to take over, she would probably make a fool of herself. It wasn’t until Mikasa started spreading her knees apart that she felt a slight panic start to bud inside the pit of her stomach. “You’re not going to..”  
         “I am. Do you want me to stop?”  
         “W-Well, no, I’m just.. are you sure?” Annie tilted her head to the side, still able to feel where Mikasa’s teeth had penetrated her skin.  
         “I wouldn’t be on top of you if I wasn’t.”  
         Feeling foolish, Annie nodded, urging her to go on.   
         Mikasa was so wet against her when she pressed their hips together, and the feeling made her back arch and her eyes shut in concentration. She gasped out in shock and bit her own lip to keep from moaning when Mikasa started grinding against her. This felt.. really good.   
         “Have you done this before?”  
         “Honestly? Just once.”  
         She sensed that she wasn’t close enough to Mikasa for it to be any of her business who it was with. Ironic, considering how hard she was grinding into Annie’s pussy.   
         Even while fucking someone, Mikasa had enough of her head left to sense the lingering question in the air. She traced down Annie’s side with the tip of her nail, making her shiver before answering, “Sasha. She’s my ex. She left because she told me she was pretty sure she was straight.”  
         An understanding apology was on the tip on Annie’s tongue. “I’m so-”  
         “Take your top off.”  
         “... What?”  
         Ignoring Annie’s apology, Mikasa nodded towards her chest, slowing her thrusts down. “Your bikini top. Take it off.”  
         “Why?” She could feel the blush forming it’s way across her face.  
         “Because I want to see what you look like completely naked. Under me.”  
         This girl holds nothing back, does she? Only slightly flustered, Annie reached behind her and untied the bow in her top, letting it fall idly to the side.   
         Mikasa immediately started moving again, satisfied at the sight of perfect, pink, hard nipples moving in time with her. It was the embodiment of eye candy.  
         Smiling in pride, Annie brought a hand up to her own chest, toying with herself by twisting her own nipples as Mikasa looked on and just moaned in frustration.  
           “Why, jealous? Here..” Annie reached down and took Mikasa’s hand in her own, placing it over her breast. The girl reacted immediately, aggressively fondling her and whimpering as she moved. The blonde was growing wetter as she lied under her, and the feeling of her clit sliding through her folds was too much. “Annie..” She whimpered out in frustration, shutting her eyes and grinding into her, hard.   
         She felt Mikasa throb violently against her as she came, and Annie didn’t waste a second putting her mouth on her own, feeling her lips vibrate as she moaned while coming undone. It only took herself a few extra seconds of desperately thrusting upwards into her partners hips to cum herself, Mikasa having to slip her hands under her wing bones to keep Annie from spazzing and slamming her back onto the edge of the bathtub. “Easy there, tiger..”  
         Catching her breath and coming off her orgasmic high, the world seemed to slowly come back to her. Reality shot back like a rubber band. Here she was, with Mikasa in her bathroom. The both of them were naked and covered in sweat and cum. She could still feel the imprint of her lips. How long had they been there? Fifteen minutes? An hour? “Fuck..” Annie groaned out, sitting up and rubbing the side of her neck that had been bitten.  
         Mikasa sat back on her heels, looking at her. “That was.. that felt really good.”  
         Annie looked up at her, having nothing left to be ashamed about. She noticed that her cheeks were flushed, and her hands shaking. Either out of nervousness or the force of her own muscles, Annie didn’t know. “We should probably get back out there..”  
         “Yeah..”  
         The two dressed in complete and utter silence. As they left the bathroom, Mikasa thought about asking Annie if this settled her mind on if she was still questioning her sexuality or not; but she didn’t. She didn’t say a word as they walked back out onto the deck, with Hitch’s curious gaze seeming to cut straight through her.   
         As they walked out of the bathroom, Annie thought about asking Mikasa to kiss her again, just one last time; but she didn’t.   
         In fact, they didn’t speak to each other for the rest of the day. The rest of that week. The rest of Summer. The party went on as normal, everyone had a slice of cake, everyone took a goodie bag arranged by Mikasa. She stared on as Annie jumped in the back of Reiners car, smiling a silent goodbye. But still, no words were exchanged. The girls never spoke to each other again until the first day of American History class the following school year when they were seated across from one another. It was a moment of immediate and mutual shock.  
         Annie’s first thought was that Mikasa had barely changed at all. She wondered if she even remembered what had happened, or if she forced itself out of her mind like some sort of imperfection in her life that she didn’t want to think about. She looked away as soon as Mikasa met her gaze.  
         Mikasa’s first thought was that Annie looked even more gorgeous with her hair down like it was now. She tried smiling in a silent “hello”, but all she got back was ignorance.  
         What did she expect? She would be a fool if she thought things would change.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to uploading this first chapter. My apologies for it being so long, it was never intended to be. This is my first time writing this pairing, my first time writing girl on girl, and my first time writing smut to the general public, so constructive criticism is not only greatly wanted, but also greatly needed. Positive comments and tips always keep me going.  
> Important edit: This chapter is pretty much a flashback. There will be mostly a focus on plot rather than smut later on, so don't be surprised if a chapter is updated now and then without it. Thank you!


	2. Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorting her thoughts out about Annie isn't the easiest thing to do in the world, but it might be a little easier if she could get her hands on a book that Annie had been diligently devoted to writing in each day.

          The clock on the side of Mikasa’s bedside table loomed a neon “4:24”, threatening her with the thought of how endlessly exhausted she would feel waking up in the morning with only around two hours of sleep. As she tossed and turned in her covers, she actually considered skipping.   
          Yesterday was her first day of school for the year, and it had went great. At least, she reminded herself constantly that it had been fine altogether, and she tried to focus on the good things. Mikasa was just thankful that she no longer had gym for her morning class, and her study hall teacher didn’t sound like he was going to cough up his remaining lung every five minutes, like last year. Once again, the only negative thing about her day was Annie.   
          She was a thorn in her paw, a stick in the mud, the stain on her underwear, literally anything and everything that was frustrating, Annie was. And she couldn’t get away from her.  
          She had compared her schedule with Eren early last week, and they didn’t have a single class together with the exception of lunch, which was shared by the grade. How frustrating. Armin and Mikasa shared a biology class, which she was internally and selfishly grateful for. Mikasa went through her classes very orientated and routinely, carefully making a mental note of when were the best times to take a bathroom break or go to her locker to switch her books out for new ones.   
She arrived in homeroom just before the bell last morning, and there sat Annie in the back left corner, first seat from the wall. Mikasa had the unfortunate privilege of sitting next to her, first from the wall in the second row. Screw alphabetical placement.  
          Annie caught her eyes, she was sure of it. She sat in her seat gazing absentmindedly out the window with her head in her hands, but she was sure that she met those blue eyes through her curtain of bright hair. She had never really seen Annie with her hair down. Mikasa waved at her gently while she seated herself, putting a load of textbooks next to her. Her smile slowly faded as Annie blatantly turned her head to ignore her.  
          Mikasa didn’t have the heart to pay attention in class that morning. She waited for the bell more than she had waited for anything, and she left without even remembering how to spell her teacher’s name. All that mattered was that she got out of there as fast as possible, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Annie turn and head into the entirely opposite direction upon leaving the classroom.   
          She had gracefully made her way to her next class and sat down next to Armin in Biology. Right upon seating herself Mikasa noticed that, already in her chair across the room, was Annie. God fucking damn it, that girl was fast.. or, more likely, knew a different way around the building. Helplessly, she carried herself from class to class, until eventually, she dragged herself onto her bus.   
          Annie was literally in every class of her’s but math, study hall, and German. She was even on her bus, occupying Mikasa’s usual seat. Annie didn’t seem to notice her; at least, Mikasa prayed that she didn’t.  
          And now as she tossed and turned in her blankets, she felt a pit fall into her stomach about facing her day to day. Why was she ignoring her? Was it going to be like this for the entire year? The beginning of school always gave her some form of anxiety, but this was just the icing on the cake. She had no friends in her classes, and now the only person on earth that she had a complicated relationship with was unable to be avoided.  
          Eventually, her thoughts exhausted her mind; but they always lead back to Annie. The thought of Annie hating her, of Annie slamming her locker door in her face, the curtain of blonde that she saw for the first time yesterday, of the way the sunlight coming in through the window was on Annie’s hair when she was sitting on her lap last summer, and the flush that made it’s way down her chest… she thought that she could vaguely smell chlorine.  
Mikasa’s heart nearly stopped when the loudest sound awoke her. She sat up like a bolt, blinking away sleep as she stared at the dim morning light of her room. Feeling the hole of dread fill her chest again, she reluctantly slammed her hand down on her alarm as her pulse started to return to normal; school.  
          “Ugggh…”  
          She picked out an outfit that morning, brushed her hair and teeth, and ate breakfast without much care about any of it. Get through the day, she kept telling herself. Just get through this morning. If she is going to be a bitch and ignore you when you did nothing wrong, then you have no obligation to show her kindness, even if you want to. Just don’t look at her.   
          Homeroom went on without much of a problem. Sign-up papers for clubs were being passed around, and Mikasa cared about none of them. Writers club, extra study, Latin club, German club, Russian club, track, forensics.. She put her head in her hands and sighed.   
          God, she was so tired.   
          She must have looked a wreck, because that, of all things, seemed to have caught Annie’s attention. To Mikasa’s dismay, her hair was put back up in her trademark bun today. She tilted her head and gazed at her, unabashed.   
          Mikasa stared back at her defiantly, waiting for her to turn away again, but she didnt. She kept staring back at her, as if waiting for an answer to a question she never asked. Finally, Mikasa muttered, “Headache”.  
          That seemed to do it, since Annie just gave a quick nod of her head and turned her attention back towards her notebook, vigorously writing notes.. though, class hadn’t started yet. Their professor was still droning on and on about how clubs were beneficial to your health, college applications, and social interaction, and Mikasa continued to stare down Annie’s paper from the corner of her eye, almost waiting for her to rip out a page and pass it to someone.  
          No such time came. She just kept writing, and writing, and writing.. eventually, she flipped the page over just to write more. Mikasa gave up, turning her attention to the front of class as the lights were turned off and a projector took it’s place.   
          When she gathered all of her things at the end of class, she watched yet again as Annie took a left turn down the complete opposite hallway. Determined to arrive in class before her, Mikasa completely skipped her bathroom break and did a weird half-jog to get to chemistry, silently cursing everyone in front of her for being slow and stopping to talk to every person imaginable. Passing conversations seemed nothing short of annoying and useless.  
          “Yeah, that’s what happened..”  
          “Are you sure? You can do it, though. I know you can!”  
          “Carello is so demanding.. I can never get full credit in his class.”  
          “Dude, again?”  
          They nearly slammed into one another trying to get through the door frame first. Annie just flat out wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking. She looked completely confused, and even slightly offended as Mikasa pressed her books up against her chest and pushed past her and through the door without uttering a word.   
          She felt her neck heat up and her fur stand on end as Annie muttered from behind her, “Ladies first..”.  
… Ladies first? She sat herself down, thinking about the phrase that was just muttered behind her back. Was she saying that ironically? Was she calling Mikasa manly, or calling her womanly? She gave a heated glace over in Annie’s direction, only for her eyes to fall on one thing; Annie’s notebook was missing.   
All of her books, the same ones she had before in homeroom, were with her. All of them except that stupid, girly, cherry blossom patterned composition notebook. Did she drop it?  
          Annie had to have noticed Mikasa staring, because she gazed back her way, with the same curious glance as before. Being too far away to say anything, and not even having a real excuse in the first place, Mikasa resorted to turning her gaze down at her empty table. She barely helped Armin set up their devices the entire class.  
          “Mikasa,” he said, placing his beaker of water down to look at her, “is everything going alright with you today?”  
          Of course he knew. Armin could read her like all of his other books. “Yeah, I’m just.. running on two hours of sleep.”  
          She felt sheepish at his visible concern. “Dreams? Or something else?”  
          “I think I drank coffee too late. I just wasn’t tired.”  
          “Oh, I understand.” He resumed his work, writing down numbers and checks as mikasa looked on, barely comprehending.   
          She secretly looked for that patch on blonde hair everywhere she went. Half out of curiosity of Annie’s strange daily route, and half because Mikasa had no real memory of where any of her classes were. Eventually, lunch. Sweet freedom, in Mikasa’s eyes. She sat down with her bag next to Eren, who was already working his way through a turkey sandwich that had been packed the night before. She breathed in a sigh and began unpacking, but noticed a familiar hint of gold was absent from the room.  
          “Eren.”  
          No answer.  
          “.. Eren.”  
          Silence.  
          “Eren!”  
          “What? Jeez, Mikasa, I’m eating.”  
          “Where’s Annie?”  
          He paused, bringing up a wrist to wipe at his mouth, brows furrowing. “Annie?”  
          “Yes, Annie.”  
          “I don’t know. Don’t you have, like, every class with her? You’d know better than me.”  
          Mikasa shrugged, being slightly turned off by Eren’s tone of voice, and turned her attention back to her food. Peanut butter and jelly, an apple, yogurt, and water. It seemed completely unappetizing, and the thought of it’s sweetness turned her stomach. She felt sick.   
          Sick wasn’t the word. She felt as if she could throw up, but not anything from her stomach. It was a feeling closer to her chest. And it was empty. She felt.. isolated. Abandoned. She wanted to pick herself up and let her feet carry themselves to wherever Annie was, and pick her up by the collar of her stupid hoodie, shaking her, wondering why she left her to be in this huge, open, and crowded room alone.   
          But that was stupid. Annie had never been with her in the first place; either as a friend, or anything else. It was unfair that Annie could go about her day and then just leave and not have any side effects while she sat here, alone. Not even wanting to eat.   
          She pressed small dents in the soft bread of her sandwich before she eventually forced it down, swallowing each bite with slight distaste. With time, though, she started to feel better and listened rather than participated in Armin and Eren’s conversations.  
          “I’m going to put my bag back,” Mikasa said as she stood up, carrying the bag in her hand. She had learned from yesterday that it was a hassle to carry from class to class without returning it after lunch first.  
          “Alright..” Armin said, smiling in her direction before returning to his book as mikasa walked out.  
          Mikasa listened to the steady clicking of her shoes through the empty hall. Everything on this side of the school was so deserted.   
          _Click, click, click._  
          She reached her locker, put away her bag, and still the silence was deafening. She began to walk away.  
        _Click, click.._  
 _Piano keys?_  
          Mikasa stopped, her curious eyes scanning down to the orchestra room at the end of the long hall. There was music coming from there, she was sure of it. But why? The entire grade was at lunch right now, including that teacher..  
          Curiosity took her by the hand more than her common sense as she found herself walking towards the sound. It grew louder as the distance between them lessened. It was soft, a soothing melody, one that surely had lyrics attached to it somehow.  
          A step outside the heavy door, and the music stopped. Maybe they heard me, Mikasa thought. But only for a second, because the music continued. Hesitantly this time, but still as beautiful as ever.  
          Sighing, she slid against the heavy wooden door and sat herself down against the wall, listening to the music on that cold tiled floor. It was smooth, and practiced, and melodic. She found herself closing her eyes and leaning against the small crack of the door, doing anything she could to get closer without giving away her position.   
          Maybe it was the tune, or maybe it was the severe lack of sleep that plagued her brain, but soon, the music stopped playing. Nothing but silence came from that room.. and Mikasa had no idea, because she was fast asleep against the door.   
          If the sound of the bell fifteen minutes later didn’t wake her up, the door hitting the side of her head as it was opened would.  
          “O-Oh..” Mikasa hurried to her feet, trying to look casual to whoever was on the other side, “I’m sorry, I was just here to-”  
          “It’s fine.”  
          No way. Not again.  
          Annie looked back at her like a statue. “You should get to class. The bell just rang.”  
          “What about you?”  
          “This _is_ my next class.”  
          She left the cold room with a quiet apologetic glance her way, and spent the rest of the day wasting away in her remaining classes. What she stuffed in her bag that day to prepare for the weekend was the usual; a math book, her calculator, lesson reminders, an English notebook, and a small, cherry blossom patterned book she found on the floor of the high school library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short, and I promise a longer update later on. I really wanted to update this fic before I go away for a bit. No smut this time, but I can promise it on the next chapter... maybe.


	3. Blossoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mikasa reads over Annie's personal notebook, and decides last minute to return it to it's rightful owner.

  
          There were many things that were learned that Saturday night. The first was that Mikasa should never, ever have even touched that notebook in the first place.  
          The book was filled to the brim of Annie’s drawings, her sketches, her life, even all the way down to her dreams. It was like a trainwreck that Mikasa had no choice but to watch.  
          Several times, she had shut the book, telling herself that it was too personal of a thing to stick her nose in. But all day, on the side of her bed, it was taunting her to read it. Finally, before she settled down for the night, she turned on her bedside lamp and began to read.   
          It was sickening. Heartbreaking. She cringed to herself and felt lumps in her throat as she watched this happy girl of thirteen years old who loved to spend her time drawing and composing music turn into someone who was getting unexplainably more hopeless by the day, until eventually, she diagnosed herself with depression. Her entries got shorter, and her dreams got scarier.   
          She documented events like a diary. August 3rd, she drew sketches of dragons for practice. August 4th, she kissed Mikasa at a pool party she never really wanted to go to in the first place; but, she was quick to add, that she was glad she did.  
          She learned that Annie hated school, and she really had no friends there. She seemed completely unharmed by this fact, saying that she liked being alone, because it’s easier to avoid hurting and being hurt. She contradicted herself a lot, Mikasa found. Annie was one to hate people unless given a reason otherwise, but would spend her nights writing how much she longed for someone to love her and for someone to talk to, someone to just try to understand.   
          Selfishly, Mikasa flipped through the pages to search for any mention of herself other than the fact that they kissed. Something to try and explain why she was ignoring her.  
          Eventually, entries were found containing mentions on one page of how Annie had missed her through the rest of summer. Embarrassment filled her with how detailed she described Mikasa’s lips on hers, and how she could barely fall asleep that night with the thought of it..  
          Mikasa readjusted herself against her pillows, sighing into the paper. This was bad, what she was reading was so wrong, but she couldn’t help it. She had learned more in the past ten minutes than she had the entire time she’d known the girl. Annie was bisexual, her parent’s divorced when she was very young, and she had always wanted a pet husky despite not being able to afford the care for one. She was allergic to cats, she was a huge night owl, and had a fear of needles and hospitals. But worst of all, Annie hated being alone.   
          The next entry was the one that made her shake, and helped things fall into place. She wanted an answer, but now, it seemed like anything would be better than what she knew.   
          It took place about three days after Annie’s last entry.   
    _“I got admitted into the hospital two days ago. I asked my father for my notebook, and he brought me about six of them. He must not have known which one I wanted. Sounds about right for him, right?_  
 _The nurses here are nice. Too nice. They treat me like a child, and speak slowly, as if wondering if I can understand such big words like, “containment” and “transfusion”._  
 _I want to forget what happened. I don’t want to explain it. According to them, I was in a coma for around two days. They had to pump my stomach of the pills I took, and they claim that the miracle here is that I have no damage done to my liver or brain. I feel so useless and lethargic. I don’t think I’ll be allowed to take them anymore. I don’t want to start school this year, I really, really don’t. The work is too much for me right now, but I know I’ll have to go in two weeks anyway. My dad said that maybe if…”_  
          The entry stopped, and Mikasa breathed for the first time since reading, her head spinning. Annie.. had overdosed, she had tried to kill herself. Why, she may never know, but the thought of.. of beautiful Annie, with her soft voice, those pink lips that someone could kill for..  
          It was too much. She shut the book, putting her head to the pillow, trying to force herself not to cry. “It’s fine now,” she reassured herself, “Annie is fine, Annie is okay, Annie is home right now laying in her room with..”  
          Without her only emotional outlet in the world, because Mikasa had stolen it. She lied down on her mattress, staring into the void of her wall, hating herself for this.   
          “I have to give it back,” she thought, “there has to be some way to get this book back to her without her knowing that I had it.”  
          Mikasa flipped open the book again, and under the front cover flap were two addresses; an email and a home address. She read over it carefully, knowing the street that was a few minutes away, but not the house number.  
          An overwhelming urge to just talk to the girl about everything she had just read filled her. She looked out her window, to her clock, and back to her window. It was well past eleven at night. Eren was usually asleep at around ten thirty..   
          Once the thought graced itself into her mind, it wouldn’t leave. She lied there, she tried to fall asleep, but only a minute later she knew that wasn’t going to happen.   
          Slipping quietly out of bed, she put her socks on and tied her Converse tightly below the end of her pajama pants. “We’ll see how much of a night owl she is,” she thought, and grabbed the blossomed notebook in her hands before slipping past her brother’s bedroom door and down the hall, ready for an adventure.  
          She would have been a little less suspicious about it if she knew that down the street, Annie was wide awake, and staring out her bedroom window across the street with her laptop propped up on her legs.   
          Seeing the figure of a person outside in the dark was enough to put her on red alert. Annie paused the music on her webpage before slipping the clunky headphones off her head, listening through her window into the darkness of the night.   
          The luminescence of the porch light shone on her driveway, and she couldn’t make out the face of them. But whoever it was slipped something pink into her mailbox before accidentally slipping half of her clumsy and not-so-inconspicuous face into the light.  
          Mikasa.  
          Annie gave an aggressive thump at her window, feeling satisfied when Mikasa’s head jerked up, frightened at the sound, and she noticed her sitting there for the first time.           Annie gave her a what-the-hell-are-you-doing? look before Mikasa just waved her hand in her direction.  
“Come outside. She’s telling me to come outside. But I can’t..”  
          She looked back at Mikasa, shrugging, wondering what it was that was even so important for her. She hoped she wouldn’t have to move from the warmth of her seat.   
Mikasa just repeated the gesture, more exaggerated this time, before mouthing silent words.   
          Shaking her head miserably, Annie snapped the lid of her laptop in place before sliding everything off her lap and slipping downstairs and out the hall silently, clad in nothing but her nightclothes and a pair of socks.  
          Mikasa hesitantly took a step towards her as Annie stopped on the threshold of her garage, crossing her arms over her chest and looking distraught.  
          “Sorry to just show up in the middle of the night..” Mikasa started, averting her gaze awkwardly.  
          Annie made a sour face, looking her over, “What is this about? This is so seriously creepy, Mikasa.”  
          She cringed, because she knew it was true. “I found a book in the hall, and it turns out, it was yours. I really didn’t know. I thought it would be private. I returned it..”  
          Annie tried to ignore her excuses, making a beeline to her mailbox and not skipping a beat as she retrieved her notebook back, holding it in her hands gingerly as if it were an extension of her own body. Mikasa didn’t blame her; it mind as well be.   
          “Did you read it?”  
           She knew the answer, but she couldn’t help but ask it anyway, as if clinging on to the last thread of hope that her most private parts of her life will stay that way. She mentally prepared herself to cuss Mikasa out and scream at her.   
          “Yes.”  
          It sounded almost like a sad sound as Annie looked back up at her, holding back her outlash for now. Her eyes begged, demanded, for an explanation.  
          She continued, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, I was the wrong one here, I really thought that by you being-”  
          “It’s fine.” Her words floated out before she really understood.  
          “You’re not angry with me?”  
          “No, I’m furious. But there’s nothing I can do about it.”  
          The two stood still, listening to that silence around them again. It was peaceful to Annie, knowing that there was endless space above her, and that if she ever chose to, she had the freedom to just run away here and now. It helped to sooth her anger at the taller girl, and she sighed to herself in the cool air that was quickly turning into late fall nights.   
          “Thanks for bringing it to me this late,” she said, and smiled sadly down at her clenched hands.  
          “It’s fine. But I have to ask.. Annie, do you detest me?”  
          “Detest you?”  
          “Yes. For anything I’ve done.”  
          Annie shook her head slowly, her hair falling in a frame around her face. “No, I don’t.”  
          Silence overtook the two again as they both stood there awkwardly. Mikasa, ever the strongest, stood like a statue, while Annie looked at the ground and occasionally played with the fringe of her hair.  
“          You must think I’m crazy.”  
          Her voice sounded sort of humorous behind those sad eyes, and Mikasa looked up just in time to catch Annie looking away. “I think you’re a lot of things, but crazy isn’t one of them.”  
          “I tried to kill myself.”  
          “I know.”  
          “I still keep a _diary_.”  
          “I know.”  
          She started to seem exasperated at this point in the game.   
          Tilting her head, Mikasa asked, “Why are you smiling?”  
          Annie shook her head, grinning, “It just.. it’s a messed up reaction. I don’t know why I do it. I guess it’s really inappropriate, huh? I can’t really help it, the whole thing just.. makes me want to laugh. How I had taken extra measures to make sure no one opens that book, and of all people..”  
          “You’re upset that it was me?”  
          “Yes.”  
          “But, why?”  
          She shook her head, not answering; Mikasa didn’t want to pressure her any further.   
          “So, is there anything you want to know?”  
          “A few things. They can wait. It’s none of my business.”  
          “No, tell me. I have a place we can sit outside if you want. It’s not that late yet.”  
          Mikasa turned to looking up at the moon in the still sky as Annie slipped out her phone and clicked it on. “It’s only a little past midnight.”  
          Annie noticed how Mikasa stared at every aspect of her house as she led her out back near the pool. She still couldn’t shake the thought of what Mikasa had learned about her; things that were sometimes too personal that Annie felt guilty writing them, and had to put the pen down halfway through her paragraph. The silence around them only deepened her worries, and it threw her into a chasm of self hatred for being so childish.   
          They sat themselves on the wrought iron chairs adjacent a little tea table on the poolside, with Annie’s notebook plopped down on the table between the two girls like a centerpiece.   
          “So, what is it?”  
          Annie spent no time at all putting an iron fist to buisness. Mikasa sighed as she racked her brain for any way to form her questions.   
          “Why did you do it?”  
          “I’m really weak.”  
          “That’s not what I asked. What made you want to even think of doing something like that?”  
          Mikasa wanted to sound mean, she wanted Annie to know that she had hurt her, too, but she couldn’t will herself. She couldn’t raise her voice to Annie knowing everything that she’s been going through.   
          Annie shrugged, a small, weak motion, “I really can’t say that it was just one thing. My dad was pushing me a lot. School was too much to handle. I have no friends.” She said the last part so matter-of-factly as she looked at Mikasa and smiled, like it was what had hurt her the most.   
          “Mina is your friend.”  
          “Mina doesn’t even talk to me any more.”  
          “Why not?”  
          “The hell if I know.”  
          Mikasa thought for a second. “You have Hitch.”  
          “She uses me for work. She called me a toucan last weekend behind my back and then asked to be partners for a project, which she proceeded to do nothing of.”  
          “You have me.”  
          Annie wrinkled her nose in disgust, “Friend? You fucked me on the bathroom floor.”  
          It was that statement Annie knew they had both been consciously avoiding; she had broken a dam with the accusation. They went back to momentary silence. Annie sat in her triumph, and Mikasa boiled in her own humiliation.   
          “Then why do you even bother talking to me if you resent me that much?”  
          Rolling her eyes, Annie barely contained herself as she leaned over the table. _“I do not resent you. I do not hate you_. I don’t even mildly _dislike_ you. I’m just..”  
          Pissed off. Embarassed. Ashamed. Mikasa was able to fill in the blanks herself.   
          “Then at least tell me something. I want to talk to you.”  
          Looking up at her through her lashes, Annie seemed very disbelieving. “Why?”  
          “Because despite what you think, I really do want to get to know you.”  
          There was a pause as Annie halted her tracing of the wire on the table, and after a moment, she actually smiled. “Alright,” she said, “I’ll tell you. Some things.”  
          The night went by quickly. It was almost two in the morning when Mikasa reluctantly decided that it was time she started heading back home. Annie’s diary was one thing, but her talking was another. It was hard to get her to pry into a subject, but once she did, Annie was actually a very honest and even _funny_ girl.   
          After only the first couple of minutes, the subject of mental health was completely forgotten. It was replaced with tv shows, movies, hobbies, and even places and dreams that were horrifyingly similar to one another.  
          They reached the end of the driveway sadly, and it was the unspoken rule that Annie wouldn’t follow her past there.   
          “Sorry, again, about taking that. I did have a lot of fun.”  
         “Me, too.”  
          “So, I guess I’ll see you in school.”  
          “You can come tomorrow if you want. Maybe a little earlier.”  
          “Maybe around six?”  
          “By earlier, I meant maybe ten.”  
          They agreed, yet somewhat uncomfortable due to the sudden companionship, and Annie headed back inside when Mikasa started walking.  
          She gazed at her through the window, waiting until she was out of sight, before flopping on her bed and hugging her knees.  
          People and talking took a lot of energy out of her, and she was nothing short of drained. She picked up and toyed with a stuffed animal she had laying around, thinking of how Mikasa was such a nicer person than she anticipated. If they became friends, would they ever get over what happened between them? Feeling utterly alone is a feeling she was used to. But did she have to be?  
          A pit fell in her stomach. Annie assumed it was nervousness, because it wasn’t every day she interacted with people in such detail. It wasn’t until she was laying in her bed in that dark bedroom and trying her hardest to fall asleep that she understood it’s true cause; Annie didn’t want to forget. Mikasa’s voice still rang in her ears, and, assuming it would do no harm, Annie fell asleep with the thought of being held.   
          She could never have been so wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long; I have a lot of family issues going on at the moment that just completely discourage me from writing.  
> Also, huge trigger warning for this;for suicide mentions and a past recollection of suicidal events.  
> The smut didn't come, but I thought if I were going to be sticking with this series for a while, (which I didn't know off the bat) that it would be best to establish the characters a bit first. However, I do have something planned for the next chapter which will at least keep things up and running the way things should be.


	4. Evaporation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mikasa and Annie encounter one another outside of school for the second time, and a battle of sorts ensues.

“You barely ate anything.”  
  
“Of course I ate.”  
  
“Your eggs are just sitting there getting cold.”  
  
“But I ate all my toast.”  
  
Eren gave Mikasa a look of disbelief before hastily shoveling sausage into his mouth, the morning breeze seeping it’s way through the open window and onto Mikasa’s face as she prodded the egg on her plate distastefully with her fork before managing a small bite of it. It felt dry going down.   
  
Eren didn’t ask questions. He never did. Every now and then, Mikasa just lost her appetite for one reason or another; most of them due to her genuinely not being hungry. She found it very hard to eat first thing in the morning.   
  
Eren’s voice rose up over their mutual silence after a few seconds. “I’m going to be over Armin’s today, alright?”  
  
Mikasa nodded.”  
  
“You’ll be alright here by yourself?”  
  
“Aren’t I usually the one asking you that?” Sarcastically, Mikasa looked up from her breakfast plate at him.  
  
"Well, yeah..” Eren laughed uncomfortably, “I just wanted to make sure. You know, before I left.”  
  
"I’ll be fine.”  
  
And with that, her brother left only a few minutes later. With Mikasa by herself, she continued to perch up in her room and lay down, too exhausted to do much else. She read and played games online for what seemed like hours in her head. Looking over at her bedside clock, she saw that only one hour had passed.. and then, eventually, two. Three. Four.   
  
She took a nap. Seven. She ran downstairs to make herself a sandwich for dinner. Eight. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore, and when she flopped down onto her cold bed, she texted Annie.   
  
[Text] Hey, can I come a little earlier? I’m not doing anything.   
  
Mikasa stared at her message and waited for a reply that never came. She started to lose hope if Annie still wanted her over there when it became close to turning ten o’clock. She brushed her hair and teeth over again and tied her shoes as tight as war boots before heading out the door, making sure to slip the key under the rug for Eren.   
  
‘He’ll text me if he needs me,’ Mikasa thought. Eren never really needed her anyway, right?  
  
The night was colder now, and the sound of dead leaves in the trees could be heard but not seen as the girl crunched her way down the street, trying to remember directions without having any road signs to read in the dark. She found herself counting her steps carefully.   
  
She rounded the corner to Annie’s house, which was only faintly lit up, and she could have sworn she heard voices; a girl’s, unlike Annie’s, yet very familiar.  
  
Hitch Deliss. Annie’s former roommate.   
  
Mikasa snuck up to the bush behind Annie’s porch and crouched, listening. She could feel her own heartbeat and hear her own breath, and she thought that Annie could, too.  
  
“I don’t want to do this.” That was Hitch’s voice, very hesitant and crisp.  
  
“I promise I won’t hurt you. You might learn something, too. Here, just put your arm like this.. yeah, block me like that. Let me go back and start one more time.”  
  
There was shuffling, and then a thud as a body fell to the ground. Hitch groaned in agony.   
  
“You aren’t doing it right..”  
  
“Well you aren’t teaching me right!”  
  
“Yes, I am. It doesn’t matter how short or tall you are, it’s all about balance. You need to ground yourself. If you’re knocked off balance, you’re dead meat.”  
  
“Look, I’m done here.”  
  
“Fine, suit yourself. I was just trying to help.”  
  
There was a violent rustling of a bag, and Mikasa hid against the wall just in time for Hitch to open the gate and brisk past her, turning up the road opposite of the house. She breathed a silent prayer that things were as dark outside as they were when she saw her silver hair bounce quickly down the road.   
  
Looking through the cracked fence, Mikasa saw a very disheveled Annie in her bathing suit; her hair was everywhere and her face was slicked with sweat in the night air. She saw her chest fall and rise with every passing second, and when she reached her wrist up to her face to wipe off a single line of blood, Mikasa could have sworn she saw it sizzle and burn off against her skin.  
  
Annie saw it, too. The fog seemed to finally be getting to her, she presumed.   
  
“Annie.”  
  
The girl turned, and gave her a weak smile. “Not a second late, are you?”  
  
“Never.”  
  
Motioning her over, the two girls sat at the same iron table they had the last time. And boy, Annie had missed that girl. Her voice comforted worries that Annie didn’t even know she had until they were gone. For once, she didn’t think about her father, she didn’t think about school, and she didn’t think about a lot of things she would rather not think of. All she focused on was the girl in front of her, and what a great thing it was to do.  
  
“How was your day?” Mikasa asked, looking around at the yard.  
  
A simple and mundane question, sure, but one Annie was seldom asked. She struggled with a reply. “It.. was fine. Good, I mean. I didn’t do much, just relaxed. What about you?”  
  
‘So she isn’t going to tell me about Hitch,’ Mikasa thought. “Boring. I did absolutely nothing. I slept a lot, though, so I feel pretty good.”  
  
“Ah, I’m jealous. Sleep never comes easily to me.”  
  
“Why’s that?”  
  
Annie gave a shrug, “I think I’m just a natural night owl or something.. if those even exist. I will be tired all day and then get in bed and not be able to fall asleep.”  
  
Mikasa thought for a second, “Do you drink coffee a lot?”  
  
Annie’s eyes lit up ever so slightly, but still enough to differ from her usual sullen lids. “On weekdays, usually. Not every day, but most of them. I do like coffee.”  
  
“That might be your problem.”  
  
Annie raised an eyebrow, leaning on the table, “I doubt it. It still happens on the weekends when I don’t drink it, and I’m pretty sure the caffeine would be out of my system by twelve hours.”  
  
Mikasa shrugged, tracing her finger along the ironwork, “There you have it, then; natural night owl.”  
  
The two sat in silence for a minute more. Annie was too preoccupied trying not to stare at Mikasa for too long, and Mikasa was trying her hardest to pretend she didn’t notice her glances. The side of her skull burned hot as Annie’s eyes bore into her.  
  
“Did you bring a bathing suit?”  
  
Mikasa nodded, “I’m wearing it.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
The pool glowed a pale blue under the dim three lights that surrounded it, but all the same, it looked peaceful enough.   
  
“Isn’t it a little cold to keep the pool open?”  
  
Annie blinked as she turned her gaze from Mikasa to the pool, “No, not really. I mean, it is early October, but the past few days have been warm. My dad said tomorrow would be the last day for it. That’s why I’ve been out here all day.”  
  
“You like to swim?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Ironic, considering she'd done everything _but_ swim when she had been over at Mikasa’s house for the party. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of cool air and chlorine mingled together from the passing wind.   
  
Annie reached up to pick the last remaining speck of dark blood off her upper lip; so she was imagining the smoke after all, then. “Just let me know if you want to go in. I’m wearing mine, too.”  
  
“Why not now?”  
  
The girl sighed, “That was quick.”  
  
Mikasa looked at her strangely, “Well, it’s not like we’re doing anything now.”  
  
‘Yeah, but it’s a peaceful nothing,’ Annie thought. Her eyes were drawn upwards as the sight of Mikasa flinging off her shirt to the side of the bench caught her attention.   
  
She looked back at her, expecting movement, “Well.. you coming?”  
  
“Yeah, I just..” Annie looked out towards the pool, “I’ll just stick my feet in for a few minutes, first. I’m still tired out from sparring.”  
  
So she followed Mikasa as she slipped carelessly into the cold water, and Annie watched curiously as she barely seemed affected at all. Crouching down by the water, she stuck her legs in and immediately regretted the cold shock that it gave her. “You have thick skin, Mikasa. In Russia, they’d call you a Morzh.” Maybe they should have closed the pool; it was too cold to have any fun.  
  
“A Morzh?” Mikasa asked, trying not to laugh.  
  
Annie shrugged. “Yeah. It’s what they call people who go swimming in ice water during the winter. Something about being beneficial to your health.”  
  
“Beneficial? More like hypothermia..”  
  
Annie leaned back on her palms, just moving the water around as much as she could without freezing her feet. Mikasa dunked her head under the water for half a second before coming back up, short of breath and wide-eyed. “Fuck, you’re right.”  
  
“You get used to it.”  
  
“Says the girl who won’t come in. Don’t make me splash you.”  
  
“Don’t you dare.”  
  
Annie’s eyes were enough to tell the devil to back off, but to Mikasa, they were an invitation to splash her right in the chest. All she got in response was barely a blink.  
  
“Mikasa, please don’t. I hate being splashed.”  
  
"You’re such a party pooper..” Mikasa said, and leaned over in the water to rest her chin on the other girl’s knee, “It’s just water.”  
  
Gazing down at her, Annie bobbed her knee up a bit to see Mikasa’s head jerked back as she glared in response. “Yeah, and it’s annoying..” Annie said, leaning down ever so slightly towards her face.   
  
Finally, the smell of those chemicals finally broke her down. She couldn’t help the influx of memories that started to cloud her head. Mikasa responded by leaning her head against Annie’s thigh and closing her eyes like a kitten, nuzzling the side of her face along her soft skin. “Annie..” She said, in a more pathetic voice than she had ever heard herself say someone else’s name in.  
  
Leaning back on the palms of her hands, Annie felt the cool water rush around her lower legs and the heat coming from Mikasa’s lips. It had.. been longer than she wanted to go without feeling that warmth. It was the kind of heat that Annie imagined to help herself sleep at night. She decided at that moment to let Mikasa have her way with her, whatever path that may take.   
  
Annie closed her eyes to the feeling of Mikasa’s first kiss on her inner thigh, and from the moment of dually heated eye contact, there was no hesitation in her pool bottoms being pulled half off her body. She edged her hips forward, wishing for Mikasa’s lips to be in the only place that made her head swim the more she thought of it.   
  
“I didn’t think you’d take to me this fast,” Mikasa said, an obvious taunt as she ran her thumb along the inside of Annie’s thigh, “but I might as well take advantage of it.”  
  
From her vantage point, Annie stared down at her and lightly ran her hand through her sea of dark, wet hair. “It’s not much of an advantage.”  
  
It was true; Annie took to this girl a lot quicker than the rest of her peers, and though she’d wondered why on several occasions, she can never come up with a strong enough reason. Whoever Mikasa really was, she was strong, and there was certainly more to her life than she was letting on.. but when she felt the first hot kiss being gently placed on her pussy, it took all of her mind that she had left not to try and tear the fistful of Mikasa’s hair that she had captive out of her skull.  
  
Annie’s appreciation at being licked wasn’t too hard for Mikasa to figure out. Wrapping a hand around Annie’s waist, she pulled her closer to the edge of the pool in an attempt to get deeper inside of the girl. She tasted of bitter sweetness, but her thighs smelled faintly of soap and evaporated sweat, and Mikasa was intrigued to find herself very fond of her position. It was completely new to her.  
  
Blinking after a few seconds, Annie started to feel herself becoming slightly self conscious about how close they were. “Are you sure that you..?”  
  
The look she got in return was enough of an answer. It was a look of pure ‘shut up’, so Annie pushed away all of her doubts and left things in the hands of a girl that knew too much about her, and someone that she herself barely knew.   
  
Things became very quiet outside; the wind stopped blowing the trees around in the distance, and the only thing that could be heard was Annie’s faint panting over the low hum of the filter a few feet away.   
  
She felt Mikasa’s tongue ravishing her insides, and she felt like she could break in half with any wrong move that Mikasa could make. Annie’s head went cloudy with the feeling of it, and it took most of her control to bite her own lips and try not to make any embarrassing sounds. The suckling of her lips was so slow and gentle, and she could feel her hips gravitate towards her mouth and her arms shake from the pressure of holding up her upper body.  
  
Moaning, Mikasa hungrily ran her tongue around the girl’s clit before placing slow, gentle kisses anywhere she could touch.   
  
Annie looked down at her with heavy eyelids. “Are you sure you don’t want to move somewhere else? I- _Mmmhf._.” She bit down on her own hand to keep from moaning out loud as Mikasa slid a finger inside of her and jumped out of the pool to mount her thigh.  
  
“I’m sure.” She said simply, and pressed her fingers down into the other girls chest, telling her to lay back and stay as she pressed herself onto Annie’s leg and ground into her hard.   
  
Obeying, Annie felt the cool cement touch her back as she stared up at Mikasa’s face above her, eyes shut tight in concentration as she worked herself up Annie’s thigh. She could have compared that face to a soldier of some sort, like a soldier that was used to winning every battle she started. Without much time to think, Annie felt the curl of Mikasa’s fingers inside her again, and she gave a helpless moan as she bucked her hips up into her rough palm.  
  
Despite her movements, Mikasa gave a light laugh from above her. “It’s hard to move fluidly if you’re so tight.. you feel so smooth, though.”  
  
Annie averted her eyes in shame, instead turning her gaze to Mikasa rubbing herself off on her thigh. “Isn’t that difficult..?”  
  
Mikasa shook her head, leaning down between the crook of Annie’s neck. “No, not really.. why, does it look hard?”  
  
Annie nodded, feeling her neck get stiff from holding her head up.  
  
“Here, let me show you..” Mikasa reached out and took Annie’s hand in her own, guiding it into her swim bottoms. At the feeling of how wet she was, Annie felt a pit drop into her stomach.  
  
Mikasa grabbed her hand and guided her finger along her clit, closing her eyes slightly as she looked back at her. “See? Just really gentle, like this.. don’t be so nervous.”  
  
“I’m not nervous, I know what I’m doing.” Annie gave her a sidelong look of annoyance as she stroked Mikasa in soft circles, feeling herself fill in satisfaction at how she responded to putting her own pressure on her fingers.   
  
"Do it harder, please..” Mikasa was about to grab Annie’s wrist to control her again before the girl responded to her commands herself and did as she requested, feeling Mikasa’s back quiver under the added pressure.   
  
With Mikasa moving over her, the feeling of those rough fingers inside of her, Annie felt like she was in pure bliss; she knew what was coming, but ignoring it, she decided to stay in her little moment of heaven for just a few seconds longer. “Your hair looks beautiful down like this.. it’s so long..”  
  
She saw Mikasa’s face turn a blood red at the compliment, her composure starting to falter a bit as she hesitantly continued her movements. “Thanks..” she finally said after a few seconds, though quite awkwardly, and leaned down to give Annie a small kiss. The acknowledgement that she faintly smelled the iron scent of blood crossed her mind before Annie distracted her yet again.   
  
“I-I think I’m going to cum..”  
  
The words sent a flutter to Mikasa’s chest, and she leaned down further to plant harsh kisses on Annie’s neck as she desperately thrusted up into her palm, searching for any hope of extra stimulation that she could find. “Then do it..” Mikasa said, gently biting the skin on her neck as she felt Annie come helplessly undone against her, searching for anything to hold on to.   
  
Her cries of pleasure sent a shiver down Mikasa’s spine, and she latched onto Annie like some sort of animal until she herself felt an orgasm shake her limp, and she kneeled there panting for the remainder of the minute.   
  
Together, they collected their minds back and their bodies once again became immune to the fall air.  Mikasa felt herself get goosebumps up her arms and legs as a breeze picked up, carrying cold air.  
  
It was Annie that broke the silence, sitting up to bring her knees together shyly. “Why is it that we always find ourselves in this situation?”  
  
Mikasa grunted weakly in reply as she smiled, a feeble attempt at a laugh for a question she didn’t know the answer to. Annie made her weak, there was no doubt about that;  
Annie made her lonely when she loved to be alone, Annie made her feel a happiness and general _sameness_ that she never knew existed, and most of all, Annie made her long for her warmth when she loved the cold. “Here..” She said, and handed Annie her bottoms.   
  
Putting them on, Annie looked around her at the darkness and quietness that was her backyard. It was something she saw every day. Now she would never see it the same. “Is this what we’ve come to?”  
  
Taken aback by the question, Mikasa blinked back at her. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Everytime we meet, this is all we do; we fuck each other.”  
  
“Do you not want to?”  
  
“Well, I do, I just mean..”  
  
Smiling, Mikasa drew nearer to her face again, leaning against the poolside. “So does this mean you want to be closer to me, too?”  
  
Looking away, Annie went back to answering in her monotone voice. “Maybe. I haven’t figured it out. I find it pointless to make friends.”  
  
“I know. You wrote it in your diary.”  
  
Mikasa wouldn’t know if the shove back into the pool was playful or not, but as they bid one another goodbye for the night, she ended up looking back at Annie one last time before turning the corner.  
  
She was smiling to herself. Just standing around the corner to her porch, and smiling. It was faint, but it was there, and Mikasa would never forget that face; whatever she was thinking about, she knew that a smile that sincere and soft was something true of heart.   
  
As Mikasa walked away, all Annie thought of were her rough kisses to her neck, her sarcastic comments, and the toned muscles of her body as she moved like waves above her. Even through everything the two girls had been through already, she couldn’t shake one simple thought.  
  
 _‘I want to fight her.’_  
  
She almost forgot to slip her ring back onto her finger as she headed back inside for the night. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a while, mostly because schoolwork creeped up on me. I'm thankful for my friend pushing me to finish this chapter; it would never have been out tonight without her.  
> Thank you for all of your kind comments! I read them very often.  
> I think I took a risk in some foreshadowing with this bit, but I think you will all be pleased with the turns the story will make in the not so far off future.


	5. Voices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa and Annie try to find an opportunity to try and strengthen their relationship. The two girls slowly start to understand what life is like for one another.

Mikasa tapped her feet lightly on the edge of the piano along to the beat of the music, trying to not let it distract her as she did her biology homework for the following day. She wrote a word on her report, maybe two, before tapping her pen down again and just listening to the sounds, watching Annie sketch in a note in a measure here and there, a rest some places, change a time signature, and so forth.  
  
“When did you learn to do all of this?” Mikasa asked curiously, staring at the music that made just as much sense to her as a foreign language.  
  
She seemed distracted, but she answered the question after hesitating for only a moment. “I self taught myself since eleven.” Annie responded, a tangible hint of pride in her voice, “I could teach you a thing or two, too, if you want.”  
  
“I’ll pass.”  
  
It had been like this for the past school week. Annie and Mikasa had made no plans to meet outside of school again, but every day during lunch, Mikasa would know just where to find her. Annie would play her music, over and over again, and she would always know when Mikasa was on the other side of the door, listening to her. Eventually, she invited her in the room to join her in company, and every day Mikasa moved a tiny bit closer to her until they shared the piano bench. Each one of them did their own work in harmony there. The orchestra room was large, and it was completely void of prosthetic neon lighting, sound, and people during this time of day. Neither girl thought they should really be there in the first place, but since Annie’s instructor didn’t have a problem with her coming in to practice, she wondered what the harm would be in bringing a friend.  
  
Annie noticed that Mikasa was absolutely crazy when she started working on something. She went into some sort of trance that she couldn’t be shaken from, but she found that the more she played on the piano, the softer her pencil marks became. It was a small detail, Annie knew, but she had always been one to notice and appreciate the minuscule.  
  
“Did you write this song?”  
  
Annie nodded, flipping a page, “Yeah, I did.”  
  
“How? And why is it in German? Don’t you speak Russian?”  
  
Annie nodded again, a thoughtful look overtaking her features. “I do speak Russian. I don’t know the first thing about the German language. I feel like I used to hear it a lot as a child or something, because it came to me more as a memory than anything else. I’m just writing down the tunes I heard.”  
  
Annie’s fingers ran swiftly over the ivory keys, one of the most fluid movements Mikasa had ever seen. She watched in awe as Annie did something she always wished she could do herself.  
  
The little cherry blossomed notebook was with them this time, too. It was next to Annie’s music. And looking at it reminded Mikasa of something very important..  
  
“Hey, uh, Annie?”  
  
“Mm?” She didn’t stop playing. Of course.  
  
“I’m sorry if I made anything awkward between us. No matter what, I want to be here for you, alright?”  
  
Her fingers stopped moving, and she looked from the keys over to Mikasa, managing a smile. “Yeah, I understand. I want to be here for you, too.”  
  
“You don’t think I’m.. a slut or something, do you?”  
  
Annie scrunched her face. “No, of course not. So what if you were? If you want to have sex with someone, that’s up to you.”  
  
But Mikasa wasn’t looking for sex. Apparently, she couldn’t find the right words to help Annie understand, because it was only a second later that she was back working at the keys and mouthing words that had no meaning to Mikasa.  
  
“Let’s have a sleepover tonight. It’s Friday, isn’t it?”  
  
“Oh..” Annie halted in her playing, “Mikasa, I don’t know about tonight, I had a match yesterday and I’m so sore I don’t think I can even walk right..”  
  
Mikasa’s eyes widened, fanning her hand in defense. “No, no, not.. that kind of sleep over. I’m not hinting anything to you. I mean, let’s just hang out and have fun. Talk.” _‘Actually get to know one another,’_ Mikasa thought.  
  
Thinking, Annie nodded her head. “Yeah, I think that would be great for us. You mean.. at your house?”  
  
“Yeah. You can come earlier, I don’t mind. Eren and I are the only ones in the house, and he’s usually with Armin anyway. We can order pizza.”  
  
Armin’s name stirred up strange memories within Annie, and she tried her best to suppress them as she managed a smile for Mikasa’s sake. “That sounds great.”  
  
The blaring sound of the bell interrupted any continuing conversations as Mikasa shoveled her books into her arms and stood up, ready to head to her next class. “Alright, Annie, I’ll-”  
  
For just a second, Annie’s lips made contact with her own, kissing her gently. It was completely unexpected from her, and according to her flushed face, Mikasa could have guessed that Annie didn’t expect it much on her part, either. The feeling was oddly reassuring.  
  
“Have a good day..”  
  
“Yeah, you too, Annie.”  
  
Picking up her books, Mikasa turned and left the room for the day. Her lips tingled all during German class that day as she tried to find words to put to the tune of Annie’s song.  
Annie, in the meantime, spent her time taking grueling orchestra playing tests that she always took much more seriously than she should before heading over on her bus at the end of the day, her head still swimming with the sound of the note she messed up on.  
  
She was distracted as she sat down next to Mikasa with her headphones on under her white hood to shield herself from the rain that day that nearly threatened to flood the track field. She took out her phone and texted her father, her fingers lightly tapping against the damp glass as hints of music escaped through her headphones.  
  
“Annie?”  
  
No answer.  
  
Mikasa smiled to herself as she flung her bookbag onto the ground to give the two more room. It was peaceful like this. The bus was noisy, it was lewd, it was everything that high school busses usually were.. but she felt at home.  
  
The ride was fairly long, with students leaving the bus in massive loads at each stop like herds of animals.  
  
Finally, at one stop, Mikasa stood up without warning and slung her bag over her shoulder, looking at Annie expectantly. Annie abided, following her off the bus and tucking her phone into her pocket to keep it from getting wet.  
  
She tucked her headphones under her ears politely and walked alongside Mikasa, who kept a steady pace down the road. “My house isn’t too far, just over the hill,” she said after the silence, “does anyone know you’re coming?”  
  
“My dad does.” Anne said, checking her messages.  
  
“He’s really lenient with letting you off your leash.”  
  
“He gave up. I do what I want no matter what he says, anyway, so he found it to be useless. Plus, he doesn’t have any reason not to trust me.”  
  
“Harsh,” Mikasa muttered, opening up the door to her house. The air was much warmer compared to the cold outside, and Annie could feel the blood rush back into her nose and ears as she stepped into the house.  
  
“Welcome home..” Mikasa said, and took off her shoes by the door and started to turn on some lights. “Eren will be back in a few hours. I think he’s bringing Armin, but don’t worry, they won’t bug us.”  
  
Home. That’s what the place smelled like. Annie’s home had a smell, too, but it had degraded a lot since her mother left. With time, the smell became dull. It turned from candles to dust, from cookies to plastic. It was barren, and it was cold.  
  
Here, though; here, Annie had a whole new idea of home. Mikasa had a brother that was here for her. They knew how to care for themselves and the house, and together they made a family that was held together by a foundation stronger than people give them credit for. This is what Annie wanted out of a home.  
  
“Annie? Is everything alright?”  
  
Looking up almost sadly, she nodded back. “Yes.”  
  
“Okay.. follow me.”  
  
Up a small staircase was Mikasa’s room at the end of the hall. It was.. different than Annie had expected it to be. It was slightly plain for a girl so full of emotions. It was clean, and tidy, and far from what Annie’s looked like. “Nice..” She said, looking at a calendar on the wall.  
  
“Thanks. You can just sit down wherever.” Mikasa motioned to her bed, but Annie sat herself silently down on the floor.  
  
After the slight moment of being confused, Mikasa decided to sit on the floor across from her friend. “Did you have anything in mind to do?”  
  
Annie looked up at Mikasa, and then around at her room, and shook her head slowly. “Not really. I assumed you did.”  
  
Well, that went over great. “We can order pizza for dinner, if you want. Maybe watch a movie.”  
  
“That sounds good.” Annie couldn’t remember the last time she had sat down and watched a movie with someone.  
  
“Good. What do you want on it? I’ll call and order it now.”  
  
“Oh, just plain..”  
  
Mikasa cocked an eyebrow, her finger on dial. “Really? A girl like you likes plain?”  
“  
Well, I like the barbeque sauce on it with mushrooms and pineapple, but I figured that was a little too extreme for you.”  
  
Mikasa made a face back at her. “Yeah, you might be right.” She dialed the number, and waited for a response.  
  
“.....What?”  
  
Looking over at Annie, Mikasa lowered the phone. “What?”  
  
Hesitantly, almost scared, Annie shook her hand. “No, nevermind, just order.”  
  
And she did. The entire time, Annie’s blue eyes scanned her room as if looking for something, and she hugged herself awkwardly in a way Mikasa had never seen before. After hanging up the phone, she asked, “So do you want to tell me what’s going on?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Why are you acting all scared all of a sudden?”  
  
“Oh, it’s nothing, it’s stupid.” Annie brushed it off as if she were embarrassed that Mikasa had noticed a change in her at all, even though it would take a fool to be completely oblivious.  
  
Not taking no for an answer, Mikasa pressed further. “Annie, you look like you’re expecting an axe murderer to jump out of my closet and smite you. Tell me the truth… please.”  
  
Finally, the girl’s death grip on her arm ceased and she looked over at Mikasa worriedly, and Mikasa would have said that she almost looked guilty. “I’ve been hearing people call my name.”  
  
“Annie, that’s impossible. No one is here, I promise.”  
  
“Look, I know it’s impossible, but it doesn’t change the fact that it still happens.” Annie narrowed her eyes at her, and for the first time since meeting, she actually looked offended and hurt. “Are you trying to say I can control this? Or I’m making it up?” Then, in a lighter voice, she said, “Trust me, I _wish_ I was. It’s scaring me.”  
  
Mikasa couldn’t help but sympathize. “Annie, how long has this been going on for?”  
  
Scrunching up her face, she appeared to be deep in thought. “I.. dont.. remember. I feel like I always used to get feelings that people were calling me, just like auditory hallucinations. But now it’s really bad, and I actually hear their voices. They’re familiar voices, too.”  
  
“Like whose?” Mikasa leaned in, open to hear anything she had to say.  
  
“Armin’s, sometimes. It’s usually your voice. Once, it was Eren, and even once before I could have sworn I heard Hitch screaming, ‘Let her go!’. It’s really getting to me, and I can’t sleep that well.”  
  
Being grateful that Annie was actually opening up a bit, Mikasa placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it. “Maybe you should talk to someone about it. I mean, someone else,” she said, as she saw the way Annie looked at her, “I’m not good with this kind of thing. I meant a professional.”  
  
“My dad would knock me silly if I ever told him I needed a therapist.”  
  
Shortly after, the doorbell rang. Annie jumped a bit under Mikasa’s hand, and in a moment, both girls broke apart for the pure sake of food.  
  
When they made it down to the kitchen and opened that glorious box, Mikasa’s eyes lingered on Annie’s plate, which was filled with three huge slices. “You eat like my brother. Haven’t you eaten?”  
  
Before taking a bite, Annie gave her a look. “Come on, don’t tell me you actually eat those school lunches.”  
  
“I bring my lunch.”  
  
“I don’t have the time for that.”  
  
She should have seen the attitude coming, but in her own defense, Mikasa was just trying to help. “Maybe you should try it. Just once.”  
  
Annie’s response was just more silent eating as they sat with one another at the kitchen table.  
  
Annie couldn’t find words to say to her. Mikasa was always so stoic whenever she saw her around, but with Annie, she seemed to be more open about herself, if only just a little.  
Being the nosey person she is, Annie did all that she could to take it in stride. She asked Mikasa about her home life, her brother, things she liked to do. More and more, she seemed to gain trust in her, and her answers started to get actual depth.  
  
Once they were back in Mikasa’s room, Annie had learned that Mikasa’s parents died when she was really young. She thought of Eren as a brother, and against Annie’s initial thoughts, she had never thought of him as anything other than her brother.  
  
“He’s just always been like that to me,” Mikasa said, playing with the fringe on her rug, “I can see why people would think I like him. I am.. really attached to him, to say the least, but he’s the only family that I have left. If they understood, they would want to protect him, too.”  
  
Annie nodded as she took a sip of her drink, part of her hair falling into her face. “I’m beginning to understand. Thank you for clarifying.”  
  
And so it went as the night went on. In the end, Mikasa ended up giving Annie her bed to sleep in just to be courteous, and Mikasa set up her things on the floor.  
  
“Night..” Mikasa muttered, and flicked off the remaining lamp in the room.  
  
Annie saw a gentle light streaming in from her window once her eyes adjusted to the dark. Mikasa’s room was.. quiet. Void of all noise and disturbance except the rain that pelted relentlessly against the glass of the window.  
  
After a few minutes of solitude and listening to the occasional roll of thunder, she gazed at that head of dark hair across from her. Annie eyed Mikasa’s back and watched as the girl tossed and turned on the floor, and she felt a stone of guilt form itself in the pit of her stomach. Trying to push it in the back of her mind, Annie shut her eyes tight and brought the unfamiliar rough covers up to her chest. They smelled like her. Once her body heat started to warm the covers, Annie let out a strained huff of breath, feeling completely peaceful for the first time since the light shut off.She felt her body start to drift off into sleep until her heart nearly skipped a beat upon hearing the calling of her own name.  
  
 _“Annie..”_  
  
Her eyes snapped open, and she gazed at Mikasa.  
  
Mikasa was lying on her side, still facing away from her. She seemed half asleep.  
  
If there was one feeling in the world Annie hated more than anything, it was that of instant nervousness. “Mikasa,” she hissed, very lightly, “Are you awake?”  
  
A grumbled “mhmm” followed, “everything okay?”  
  
“I can’t sleep.”  
  
“C’mere.”  
  
Annie slid out of bed, leaving her covers and her previous warmth behind. It felt better to be on the floor; it felt better to be closer to another living person. It was even easier to close her eyes and lie down again. She was calm until she felt an arm snake softly around her side and pull her back closer to heat.  
  
Mikasa buried her head in the back of Annie’s neck as her breathing returned to normal, nuzzling there gently. “Annie, Annie..” She whispered, giving her a light squeeze, “What am I going to do with you..”  
  
Annie smiled into the pillow, touching her hand to Mikasa’s. “Hold me forever?”  
  
She responded by tracing Annie’s fingers lightly with her own, huffing out a light laugh. “You say that like it would be difficult.”  
  
For the first night in several months, Annie went to sleep to a sound other than that of the calling of her own name, and a feeling other than that of cold.  
  
Annie slept peacefully until the sun rose that morning, setting everything in the room ablaze with the amber and crimson of fall. And Mikasa was no where to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick chapter update to try and help visualize their relationship a little better. I cannot wait to finish this series, and I will suspect that it will end at 8 chapters minimum, maybe more, possibly a part two if readers like it enough. But, that is far in the future.  
> I really love all of your comments, and I read them all the time. It means so much to me to see that comment number go up. For everyone who has given kudos and comments so far, thank you so much! They mean the world to me when it comes to motivation.


	6. Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ominous threat looms over both Mikasa and Annie as they find time to spar together deep in the woods.

“Annie.”  
  
She swore the voices were getting to her head again. Frantic, Annie turned her head around and faced the corner into the living room and ended up staring back into bright, blue eyes. Maybe she wasn’t insane after all, at least this time around.  
  
Armin stared back at her, the face of someone she had kissed for the first time so long ago. He looked at her, wondering, and Annie had no choice but to stare back, and she almost felt her stomach drop. She remembered his face, the closeness, the feeling of his lips and the smell of his hair. She couldn’t understand the feeling of longing and regret she felt after seeing him again for the first time in weeks after trying time and time again to never catch his gaze.  
  
“You slept over?”  
  
“Yeah.” ‘He’ll figure it out eventually’, Annie thought, nervous. “Where is she?”  
  
“I saw her walk outside about a half hour ago. I think she’s out in the woods again.” Nobody needed to clarify who “she” was.  
  
“Thanks..” Annie mumbled, miserable. She shifted her gaze to the door and occupied herself with walking outside into the cold air as Armin turned away and walked down the hall, back into Eren’s room.  
  
The cold air made breath visible to the naked eye, and Annie felt her throat burn when she inhaled. Mikasa had a small forest behind her home, and it would normally be impossible to spot her. However, with the leaves off the trees, a hint of bright crimson could be spotted in the distance, and before Annie could think about it, she felt her feet start to carry her there like a machine.  
  
Leaves crunched under her boots as she tried her hardest to navigate the transparent maze of trees, keeping her eye on Mikasa.  
  
She was in a small clearing beyond the debris, moving rapidly across what Annie assumed to be some sort of target. As she approached the clearing, it dawned on her.  
  
Mikasa was fighting. She was training with a makeshift dummy that was clumsily constructed in the meadow with what appeared to be bedsheets tied with twine and stuffed with straw. As she fought her limp target, grass flew around her ankles, and the collision summed a mixture of morning mist and sweat.  
  
Annie watched her moves with a critical eye, which were devastating in contrast to Annies. It was no doubt now that she was all brute force, and whatever force she was holding inside herself day after day was being let out here in a form that was never witnessed from Annie’s perspective.  
  
Mikasa was a rock. Annie noticed her concentration on her actions and how she locked her target; that was a good quality to have in battle.  
  
But just like Mikasa, her fighting style lacked a completion of patience. She found her energy, and as soon as it was discovered, it was exerted in an immediately lethal attack.  
  
Panting and sweating, Mikasa drew behind her own fists and stared down her damage. Her techniques tired her very fast, Annie noticed.  
  
“You’re doing it all wrong,” She speculated, watching Mikasa’s shocked face as she approached her, “You’re nothing but force.”  
  
“And what would you know about attacking people?” Mikasa spat back, and turned her head back towards the dummy.  
  
In an instant, Annie was on her, kicking the tendons in her ankles and sending her flying to the cold hard ground.  
  
Grabbing a shard of wood from a broken log, Annie straddled her waist and pinned her down, punching the stake into the ground next to her head. It dove into the dirt with a satisfying sound. “There. Dead. You would have been dead. You’re so focused on your target that you don’t see other attacks coming.”  
  
Annie’s eyes were intense. Mikasa stared up at her, beside herself. “I wasn’t taking this seriously. I was just getting my stress out.”  
  
“Well you need to start taking it seriously. It’s a dog eat dog world full of hungry wolves out there. That long, pretty hair..” Annie ran a hand through it, gazing at her lovingly, “When distracted, you’re such an easy victim.”  
  
Mikasa slapped her hand away, angry. “Then teach me. I want to fight. I never knew you could fight like that..”  
  
She said the last part almost sadly. Annie smiled to herself as she stood up, holding out her hand for the other girl to grasp. “Here, I’ll show you some things. Your hair,” Annie nodded towards it, “that would be grabbed in a second. And your scarf, too.”  
  
“I’m not taking off my scarf.”  
  
“I’m not asking you to.”  
  
The wind picked up as both of them moved into their fighting stance, staring one another down like hungry wolves to meat.  
  
Across from her, Annie studied Mikasa’s stance for a moment. “Don’t move.” Annie said, huffing out a breath as she slowly brought her fists down from her face guard. Walking over to Mikasa, she put two fingers to her right shoulder and pushed, snickering as Mikasa struggled to retain her balance and almost fell over, sidestepping as she glared in return. “Your balance is constantly off. Don’t put so much pressure in your feet. It shouldn’t take that much effort. Come on, move your left foot, keep it arched.. yeah, like that.”  
  
Continuing to instruct her stance, she moved back into formation and put her fists up to her face. “Much better.. now.. go!”  
  
They moved towards each other like lightning, and with a strike, Mikasa fell like a thunderbolt.  
  
“Don’t block a kick with a kick.” Annie was almost laughing, exasperated, as Mikasa stood up again, ignoring the hand to hand rules of chivalry and attacking her as soon as she regained her footing. ‘A true warrior’s spirit,’ Annie thought for a second, watching her hands and how she countered all the hits Annie was landing.  
  
It was that second of absence that sent Annie flying to the dust in one swift movement as Mikasa kicked her in the ankles, effectively sending her off balance. The familiarity of the move frightened Annie; Mikasa was using her own strategies against her.  
  
“Fall, Annie!”  
  
Mikasa sat herself heavy on Annie’s torso, leaning down to pin her wrists above her head. As Annie looked up at her completely perplexed. “You.. learn really fast. Anyone ever tell you that?”  
  
Mikasa laughed lightly, “If someone is going to hurt you, you need to start thinking like the person who wants to hurt you thinks. You need to be willing to throw that part of you away. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you’re a boxer, Annie,” Mikasa tilted her head down at her, “you still fell.”  
  
“That’s really good..” Annie said, studying Mikasa’s facial features from below her. Her arms looked strong, and her face was pale, and her eyes were intense. A part of her couldn’t help leaning up to kiss her on the lips, and another part of her knew exactly what she was doing as she felt her wrists loosen under her grasp due to shock.  
  
Mikasa was heavier than Annie, but Annie had an advantage; her morale. She was on Mikasa in an instant, twisting her around and listening to her little surprised gasps before finally feeling the girl fall limp under her thighs as she regained the position Mikasa once held.  
  
“Fine, fine, I give up. You win. You know more than me.” Mikasa choked out, her neck twisted at an awkward angle into the grass.  
  
“Give up?” Annie asked, leaning down to play with her scarf, “I’m not asking you to give up. I’m asking you to learn.”  
  
“Well I learned that you’re better than me this time. So what? I usually win anyway, and you know it.”  
  
“Mmm? Yeah, but not this time, princess.”  
  
The scarf fell from Mikasa’s neck, and she couldn’t do anything but watch it lie limp around her shoulders as Annie started to plant hot kisses on her neck, using her free hand to rub at her side in a slow manner.  
  
Biting her bottom lip to keep from moaning, Mikasa looked over at her. “Really? Out here?”  
  
Her reply was muffled, “Why? Afraid we’re going to get caught?”  
  
As Mikasa felt her lips moving against her neck, and her tongue that started to caress her skin needily, the silent and cold forest around them gave her their answer; no way in hell would they get caught. Not by people, and not by Eren. Oddly, there didn’t even seem to be any animals around..  
  
“Annie, something’s wrong..”  
  
“Shh, I’m not going to hurt you..” She kissed her collarbone for emphasis, “I promise.”  
  
Grimacing in annoyance, Mikasa struggled to remove Annie from her neck. “No, it’s not you. Something is wrong out here.”  
  
Sensing the seriousness in her voice, Annie’s lips stopped dead against her. She sat up on the tops of Mikasa’s thighs and looked around, steady.  
  
As for Mikasa, she continued to lay silent under her. The two listened to the absolute nothing around them. No birds, no wind, no sun. It felt as if a breath of a second would travel a hundred miles.  
  
“Everything is fine..” Annie said, squinting her eyes.  
  
‘How could she be so blind? Everything is not fine!’ “Look, I really think we should go inside.”  
  
“You just don’t want me to be in charge for once,” Annie said, snatching up her scarf, “I think that’s what’s wrong.”  
  
Mikasa was on the verge of laughing. “Yeah, right. Give me back my scarf.”  
  
“You’ll have it.” Annie said sweetly, smiling down at her as she tied her wrists together tightly with the red fabric in one fluid movement  
.  
Ignoring the world outside, Mikasa smirked up at her when she felt the blood circulation around her wrists go numb. Her fingers were cold in the air, but she could feel her body go warm in anticipation as Annie worked at her collarbone again.  
  
“I thought I might try something different..” Annie slipped off her hoodie, exposing her chest to the cold, “If that was alright with you.”  
  
“I like different. Surprise me.” If she could, Mikasa would reach up just to touch those hard nipples under Annie’s sports bra. Damn her. Annie knew just what she was doing to her, too. She just stared up at the darkening sky to distract herself as Annie started biting down her chest, leaving small marks as she unbuttoned her shirt and slid it down her arms.  
  
“Sure, take your time..” Mikasa huffed, and looked across to her.  
  
“Shut up.” Annie gave one last annoyed nip above her pale breast and grabbed her shirt again, locating the arms and smiling at Mikasa’s concerned look as she tied them behind her head.  
  
“I don’t like not being able to see..”  
  
“Do you want me to take it off?”  
  
“Well, no, I just-”  
  
“There you go, then. Like I said,” Annie placed a kiss under her throat, “I’ll be gentle.”  
  
‘As gentle as she can be,’ Mikasa thought. Annie was often rougher than she intended to be, especially when she loses herself... With her eyes left to darkness, she imagined that pale face as it usually was when she was under her; the half lids, the parted lips, and how she always seemed to be waiting impatiently for something to happen before she did it herself. Mikasa smiled as she felt her pants slip off, automatically summoning goosebumps in the thin, cold air. She shifted her legs uncomfortably until Annie put a warm hand to her inner thigh.  
  
“It’s freezing..” She heard Annie mutter.  
  
“Mhmm.”  
  
“Don’t worry, if you’re not at least moderately warm soon, I’ll make it up to you as soon as we get back inside.” She could sense Annie’s knowing grin behind her makeshift blindfold, and felt the warmth as she mounted her thigh. Annie let out a small grunt as she started to grind against her, leaning on her forearms to make small noises of pleasure next to Mikasa’s neck.  
  
“Having fun on top like a big girl?” Mikasa snickered.  
  
“You know, I should have thought of gagging you.” Annie spat back, digging herself deeper into the pressure of Mikasa’s thigh.  
  
“Like you would.” She heard Annie’s airy gasp of pleasure as Mikasa pressed her leg against her pussy, and loved being able to feel how wet she was on her skin. “Do you like this more?” She couldn’t help but ask as she rubbed between her legs, listening as she panted next to her.  
  
“A lot..” Annie moaned out in a small reply.  
  
Her back arched against the cold grass as Annie’s fingers slipped inside her underwear, clumsily beginning to rub against her clit. Unable to ignore it any longer, Mikasa moaned as she bucked her hips up into the sensation, her body begging Annie to continue, to do just about anything. She had never been touched by another person like this, and was always the one on the giving end.. but this was a whole new battlefield, and saying she disliked it would be a lie.  
  
It only took Annie a few more seconds of the friction between them to cum, but she didn’t seem tired out at all. To Mikasa’s disappointment, she removed her warm hand from within her pants and in turn slid the thin fabric down her thighs.  
  
“What are you doing..”  
  
“Nothing you don’t want me to.”  
  
Mikasa swallowed, and after a moment of consideration, she gave a stiff nod. She struggled in her bonds to grip to something, anything, when she felt Annie start to tentatively lick between her legs and rub her thumb in circles around her sore waist, massaging deep into a bruise that was starting to form from their earlier fight. Everything felt good.  
  
“Annie..” She moaned her name, and from then, Annie didn’t hold back from whatever it was that she wanted to do with her. She dug her tongue inside her, feeling her out and tasting her for the first time before placing her little nips in the places where they would sting the most, only to go over and kitten lick the sore flesh again.  
  
For Mikasa, the world was all colors. She wondered what she looked like from Annie’s view; shaking, red faced, blindfolded. It must seem pathetic, degrading, humiliating, but she was beyond caring. Annie’s tongue was soft, and not once was it forceful against her. She moaned shamelessly into the open.  
  
“Annie, I feel like I’m going to cum..” It was hard to hold anything back, but the words still struggled to escape her mouth. They were forced out, as if she didn’t want to speak at all. As if she didn’t want to ruin the moment of mutual connection by feeling through talking.  
  
All Annie did in reply was moan again against her skin as she sucked gently on Mikasa’s clit, slipping a finger inside of her. Mikasa prayed that she even heard her, but assuming the volume of her acknowledgement, all she could do was hope.  
  
She cried out Annie’s name again as she came, shivering on the ground in a mixture of both pleasure and cold; the chill got to her again. But Annie was right. For a few moments, things were warm.  
  
Reaching down, Annie gently removed the girl’s blindfold, and Mikasa caught her smile to herself as she untied her bonds.  
  
Sighing, Mikasa sat up and looked across from the blonde, who was struggling to collect their clothing. “Annie..”  
“Hm?” She said, slipping her hoodie back on as she handed Mikasa her clothes.  
  
She started to dress again, very slowly. “Why do you never kiss me anymore?”  
  
Annie didn’t know how to react to her soft words. They seemed lonesome, begging for an answer. She decided to play dumb. “I don’t-”  
  
Wind blocked the rest of her words, and shortly after, Annie learned to stop talking at all. The wind was picking up, and fast. A twig shot through the air and almost snapped in half against Annie’s face.  
  
Panicked, the two looked up at the sky, which was a deep purple. Not good. Not good at all.  
  
Finally, realization dawned on Annie. Her eyes widened as she stood up shakily on her legs, holding out her hand for Mikasa. “Let’s go. We have to go, now!”  
  
She took her outstretched hand, and with that, the two tried to navigate the through the dense trees and thorn bushes to get back to the house. Everything looked different in the dark. Rain began to pelt them like freezing bullets, and after a few seconds, thunder and lightning struck only a mile away.  
  
Water was running down Mikasa’s face, and she felt like if she ever had to imagine what it would be like to drown, it wouldn’t be very different than how she felt right now. By the time they reached the threshold, the two ran into the house dripping wet with their ankles covered in blood. The door slammed shut from the wind, and their noses and fingers went dull form the warmth.  
  
“That was awesome,” Annie laughed, looking at her brightly. Always the adventurist.  
  
Mikasa found them towels, and the two silently sat with each other across the fireplace, drying their hair and skin in silence. They listened to the television.  
  
“Storm Titan is currently tearing through the east coast. High levels of wind, rain, and possibly sleet later in the week should be expected. Temperature chang-”  
“Mikasa! Were you outside?” Eren’s voice reached to them from the staircase, accompanied by Armin’s curious glances from behind his shoulder.  
  
“Yeah. Sparring.”  
  
Annie wanted to punch Mikasa for hesitating on that answer. She stuttered. Glancing over at Armin, his look was unblinking. ‘He knows,’ Annie thought, and faced back towards the fire.  
  
And as they sat, they listened to the terror that nature herself wrecked outside. The pillage of trees falling to the ground, of unknown devices snapping in half, of tons and tons of water racing down the road towards the drainage pipes. And on that night, two great forces of nature were truly uncovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done with this story. Depending on how much you guys like of it, there may be a continuation. Is there anything you'd like to see in future chapters? What did you like? What didn't you like? Let me know! Thank you all again for your views, kudos, and comments; they make my day.


	7. Impact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter approaches faster than the girls are prepared for, and fights between former friends aren't helping them feel any warmer.

The rain continued into the next morning, creating a very dull, wet, and cold atmosphere.  
  
But not for Annie, never for Annie, the complete pluviophile. She ran her fingers lightly over her chapped lips, trying her hardest to recollect the feeling of Mikasa’s against hers. Her head spun in a whirlwind of fatigue and hormones that she desperately wished she could find the will to control. But Annie was tired, and controlling where her mind wandered off to was beyond her capability, so her thoughts lingered on the feeling of Mikasa’s skin under her fingertips. She barely listened to her teacher’s lecture, something about triangles, as she sat in the back of the class and stared out the window into that cold rain and wanted nothing more than to either be dismissed to lunch, or to tear open the window and jump out into the bliss of sweet freedom, no matter how wet and cold that freedom was.  
  
But, of course, there was the law, so there she sat until the bell rang like an angel from heaven, and she ran straight into the orchestra room without even bothering to stop by the noisy cafeteria. The thought of even crossing though it made her head pound like a drum.  
  
When she opened the door, Mikasa was already sitting in her usual place by the piano, leaving Annie’s spot void. ‘She’s early,’ Annie thought, as she took her place next to her, dropping her books to the floor in one great pile that fell over anyway.  
  
“I got them.” Mikasa said, not even waiting for Annie to greet her.  
  
Blinking, Annie looked over at her, confused. “Got what?”  
  
Mikasa held up a paper. “Lyrics. To your song.”  
  
Curious, Annie gingerly took the paper in her hands and read it over. Mikasa tried not to laugh as she saw Annie’s face go from eager to disheartened. “I.. I don’t understand any of this, Mika.”  
  
“It’s in German, Blondie.”  
  
“Shut up.” Annie read over them carefully, then started to shake her head. “Yep. I don’t know a single word.”  
  
“You don’t have to. Just let me sing it.”  
  
“You sing?” Annie gave her a doubtful look, but Mikasa returned it definitely.  
  
“Only a little. You don’t understand it, so I don’t care if you hear me sing or not.”  
  
Annie’s stifled laugh rang through the room. “Oh, how nice of you.”  
  
They sat down on the piano bench together with the rain pounding against the window behind them, threatening to blow open the loose latch. The glass practically snapped back in it’s own frame.  
  
She wasn’t able to control her shaking as Annie put her hands to the keys, taking in a deep breath. She knew the music by heart, but she didn’t want to mess up in front of someone she really wanted to impress.  
  
Mikasa saw her face and gave her a reassuring smile, impatiently glancing from the keys to her hands, waiting for her to play.  
  
The sound of the first few notes being hesitantly pressed onto the keys resignated around the room, and it was only when Mikasa was about to open her mouth and sing the lyrics that she had created that Annie heard the taunt from beyond the door.  
  
“Gaaaaaay..”  
  
Annie stopped playing with a demonizing clang, glancing up to glare across the expanse of the room at a red headed girl that Mikasa had never seen before. Sensing trouble and seeing the way Annie stared daggers back at her, she stood up in defense.  
  
Petra sighed tiredly to herself and leaned against the white board. “Not you, your little blonde bitch over there.”  
  
“Don’t call her that!” Mikasa was a snake ready to strike.  
  
“Mikasa, stop,” Annie interfered, concern on her face, “this is between her and I.”  
  
Things didn’t look good. It appeared as if whatever had been going on between them had been going on since ancient times.  
  
“Who is she now?” Petra jerked her head in Mikasa’s direction.  
  
“Nobody you need to care about.”  
  
“Who is she to _you_?”  
  
“My girlfriend.”  
  
Mikasa felt her heart jump into her throat. Girlfriend? Had they even officially established that? She looked at Annie’s face for reassurance, but it was unreturned as her glare was relentlessly focused on Petra.  
  
The small girl sneered at them before scoffing, “Go to hell.”  
  
“Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? We used to be friends!”  
  
“You became a fucking homo is what’s wrong, not me! You think I’d have friends like that? You ruined our entire friendship because you started liking girls. Not me.”  
  
Mikasa was standing near Annie now, about ready to bolt in front of her and strike. Her blood was at the boiling point. She couldn’t stand listening to anyone say anything like this to Annie, and how Annie managed to keep a strong composure around this kind of hate was beyond her. The only thing she could think of was that she was used to the taunting.That possibility hurt to think about. “I said not to talk to her like that!”  
  
“Shut up! People like you should be shot on sight!”  
  
There was a horrible crescendo straight out of a horror movie as snapping strings landed and broke on the ground, pulling their instruments to crash with them. Bridges broke, necks were snapped, and wood was crushed in symphony.  
  
Mikasa saw that Annie had Petra pinned up against the wall, hung by the white collar of her school uniform, which now threatened to snap loose from the cheap thread it was held together with. Her nose was red and bent at an unnatural angle. “You disgust me.”  
  
Things paused for a second, before Petra started kicking in every direction she possible could, her legs being the only useful thing she had left to defend herself with.  
  
With a barely audible gasp, Annie staggered from a kick Petra landed near her diaphragm, but Mikasa was there to cover her in a second, collectively tripping and kicking Petra to the ground as she tried to flee the room.  
  
“Running from your own pillage.”  
  
From her vantage point on the floor, Annie recognized the kick as one with her own signature, and smiled in realization as she regained her footing cautiously. It was painful to breathe.  
  
“Don’t _ever_ speak to me again.”  
  
Where Petra ever fled off too, Annie didn’t know. But no teachers came, no yelling was heard, and it felt to Mikasa that she had done her job right for once.  
“That kick.”  
  
Mikasa tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “What about it?”  
  
“I taught that to you. That was my dad’s kick. He learned it in the army.”  
  
“You taught me a lot of things. I think it’s time I actually start acknowledging them.”  
  
Annie smiled at her, and Mikasa felt like her heart was melting in place.  
  
“Annie.. what you said before.”  
  
“What did I say?”  
  
The loudspeaker came on before Mikasa could answer her.  
  
“Due to weather conditions creating a state of emergency, all students are dismissed.”  
  
Annie looked at her bag and walked over to it, picking it up as she wiped down a brush burn on her elbow.  
  
“My house? It’s a bit far for you to walk home right now.”  
  
“Sure. I figured, anyway. I’ll let my dad know.” Annie took her phone out of her back pocket, tapping away at the screen as the sound of escaping students flooded the hallway.  
  
Looking around at the wreck of the room, Mikasa seemed concerned. “We should get out of here. You’re lucky this room doesn’t have cameras, but eventually, they might catch us on another monitor walking in here.”  
  
“There’s a door in here that leads out back near the buses. It says ‘Emergency Escape Only’, but it works like a normal door, I use it all the time.”  
  
Buttoning her jacket, Mikasa shook her head at her. “Delinquent.”  
  
“Hey, don’t use names.” Annie smiled and held the door open for her, and the cold hit Mikasa in the face harder than a truck. She felt the chill go straight through her clothing.  
  
“Snow..” Annie said lightly, and looked up as a few flakes got carried away by the wind the moment they were spotted. She stopped walking completely just to stare.  
  
“Yeah.. a little. Maybe more will come tonight.”  
  
And as the two boarded their usual bus that drove at a painfully slow speed, Annie presumed to pop her chrome headphones out of her bag and stare out the window, taking up her usual niche on the bus, ignoring Mikasa.  
  
But she could tell that her hands were frozen. They were bundled in her lap for heat, but it was impossible to get in the thin air of the bus. Everything was cold. Without being able to help it, Mikasa reached out and cupped one of Annie’s hands in her own, hoping to be some sort of incubator.  
  
Turning her head dazedly, Annie seemed unphased as she watched Mikasa play with her hand. “What are you doing?”  
  
“Holding your hand, stupid.”  
  
“I know, but..”  
  
“But what?”  
  
Annie shook her head, turning her gaze past the frosted glass once again. In annoyance, Mikasa sighed to herself. It would take a hammer and nail to get through to this girl.  
  
When the bus stopped and a load of high schoolers trotted off, Mikasa eyed Petra leaning up against a tree outside her yard with who appeared to be her boyfriend. There was immediately palpable tension in the air.  
  
“I wish I were taller.. I’d bash her skull right into that tree.” Annie muttered miserably, and she almost looked wistful.  
  
“Ah! Annie!”  
  
“What? It’s true. I hate her.”  
  
“Just ignore her.. some people have different ideas of life. Someone like her just won’t be worth your time.”  
  
“Yeah, sure.”  
  
“What even happened to you guys, anyway?” Mikasa stood up with Annie and she paused her music, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she evacuated the bus.  
  
“Her and I have a long history together. We used to be friends around.. I don’t know, late middle school? She came from a catholic school, and she was my closest friend.”  
  
“And what happened to make her hate you so much?” Mikasa walked alongside Annie, not taking her hand away from hers.  
  
“She set me up on a stupid blind date with Reiner. I didn’t want to go, obviously, because Reiner himself had no idea, and him and I are friends, so I don’t think of him like that. But it was also that..” Annie paused, trying to put her words together, “I didn’t think I liked guys at all. I kissed Armin, and I got no feelings from it but guilt. A lot of things had led me to that conclusion, but I couldn’t hide it from my best friend forever.”  
  
“So you told her the truth?”  
  
Annie nodded, stepping over a patch of ice. “I told her I thought I might like girls, and she went completely ballistic. She started telling me that I was going to hell, she would be punished for even being my friend, and accusing me of only being friends with her because I probably had a crush on her.”  
  
“Did you?” Mikasa was morbidly curious.  
  
Annie scrunched up her nose. “Nah, not Petra. She was my friend, always had been until then. It’s pretty obvious we hadn’t spoken much since that incident. she avoids me like the plague. One time she didn’t want to be in my gym class, so she outed me to the gym teacher and said she didn’t want lesbians changing with other girls.”  
  
“Ouch..”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Mikasa held open the door, and as she let it shut behind Annie, an array of icicles fell and crashed into a million pieces behind her, just narrowly avoiding her head.  
  
“Shit! It just isn’t your day, is it?”  
  
Annie gave a nervous chuckle, glancing at the shards behind her. “I guess it isn’t..”  
  
Though she gave a relieved sigh, the image of those falling icicles were stuck in Mikasa’s had for the rest of the night. She wondered grimly what it would be like if they had impacted her golden lioness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be my last with this one, but there is a lot to look forward to within it! I'm really excited to start writing and posting it, as I sort of wrote this story backwards in my head; I thought of the ending, then the beginning. It's something I've been looking forward to starting for a long time. Don't expect any more updates for this story after chapter 8, but if it gets in demand, I may start sort of an off-series to this (which will make sense once the last chapter is posted). Thank you all for being so patient with me, as I've been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend recently. Sorry for the sudden violence in this chapter, but it was inspired by something I personally went through about two weeks ago, so I'm trying my best to portray that.


	8. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the end of one thing and the beginning of something else are so blurred that it becomes very hard to find the difference between the two. I suppose one doesn't always have to.

The suffocating smell of hot chocolate warmed Mikasa’s face as she leaned over the mug, the drink being too scalding to her lips. She’d decided to make the two a drink, considering her home was isolated of all activity and sound.  
  
Her and Annie sat peacefully up in her dim bedroom, watching the snow fall quietly down in great heaps outside the glass. It was piling up fast, and it was evident that they were snowed in for at least a few hours.  
  
A ton of questions were swarming in Mikasa’s head, and looking over at Annie’s peaceful face as she took small delicate sips of her drink, it was hard to find it in herself to disturb that sense of peace that she rarely saw in Annie.  
  
After a few seconds of silent consideration, she took a deep breath. “Annie?”  
  
“Yes?” Annie yawned a bit, and she looked horribly tired.  
  
“What you said in the orchestra room. You called me your girlfriend.”  
  
“I did.”  
  
“But why?” Mikasa was curious, but she averted her gaze to the window. She didn’t want to give anything away through her eyes, as Armin’s voice rang in her head. “ _Your eyes are very easy to read.”  
_  
Nonchalant as always, Annie responded, “To piss her off.”  
  
Mikasa felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach, and it took her a second to breathe; of course she did it to anger her, why else would she? “Oh.”  
  
She wasn’t an idiot. The mug was placed on the side table as Annie leaned back off the bed, hanging her upper body above the ground. “I’ve thought about it, Mikasa.”  
  
“About what?”  
  
“Us.. being together. I’d be honestly shocked if you haven’t.” Her little legs swung idly.  
  
Mikasa leaned down slowly to meet her, propping her head up on her hand. “Why aren’t we?” She asked delicately.  
  
Annie sat up, once again bringing them farther apart, and went back to her old sitting position by the window. “I feel like that’s not what you want from me.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“You wanted to have sex with me, I wanted to confirm if I was a lesbian. Isn’t this how the whole thing started?” Her voice was bitter, but it had a trace of sadness as she looked at Mikasa for answers. She felt broken, Mikasa could feel it; and she felt that way, too.  
  
“No.. Annie, no, that-”  
  
“But isn’t that it?”  
  
“Yes, it started that way, but-”  
  
“Would you really want a relationship that started by-”  
  
 _“Dammit,_ Annie, stop talking over me!”  
  
It was the first time Annie had ever heard Mikasa raise her voice at her, and she promptly shut her mouth. Waiting for Mikasa to continue, she turned her welling tears into a death glare.  
  
“I don’t care how it started, that means nothing to me. All I know is that right now, I feel really strongly towards you, and I didn’t want to keep.. doing whatever we’re doing if I felt something that you didn’t.” Looking over at Annie for some reassurance, she saw that her eyes had calmed down and she was staring quite intently at one of Mikasa’s blankets.  
  
“So.. you didn’t invite me over for sex?”  
  
“I just want to spend time with you. I don’t care how we do that.”  
  
Annie’s arms were around her then; lightly, but her grip was no longer hesitant. “Thank you.”  
  
“Don’t thank me for being honest. You’re a good person.”  
  
“I’m far from a good person, Mikasa. I expected you to hate me from day one.”  
  
Mikasa held her back tightly, rubbing her shoulders and taking in a sigh. “I am far from hating you.” She grinned and fell back playfully onto her pillows, bringing Annie to fall with her and lie on top of her chest.  
  
She made it a priority to get comfortable, and placed her chin on Mikasa’s chest as she looked back up at her with nothing but pure love. “I’m far from hating you, too.”  
  
How could Annie think that she would use her for sex when just them being together like they were now make her heart skip a beat? She wasn’t sure if she should mention the feeling to Annie, but when she put her head back on her chest, Mikasa felt that she didn’t need to say anything at all.  
  
“Are you nervous?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“I can hear your heartbeat.” It was a strange sound; very deep, slightly fast, and it felt as if the sound were louder than anything Annie had heard in a while. Until now, she felt as if she were living her life through a fishbowl.  
  
While giving a nervous laugh, Mikasa brought a hand up to stroke Annie’s smooth hair. “Not really. Not anymore.”  
  
“That’s good..” Annie thought it was a good thing that Mikasa couldn’t feel her heartbeat, because it skipped several times before she finally gathered the courage to reach up and plant a small kiss gingerly on Mikasa’s chin. “I feel like that since I’ve found you, you made this cruel world.. a little happier to live in.”  
  
Annie squealed like a kid when Mikasa flipped her to the side again, and she leaned down to rub her cold nose against hers.  
  
“M-Mika, stop, you’re so cold!” Annie practically giggled it out, trying to hide her face in the pillows.  
  
“Annie.”  
  
“Hmm?” She opened a single eye from the corner of the pillow.  
  
“How about we take a nap together? Just.. to get used to being near one another.”  
  
“I don’t know..”  
  
“If you don’t want to, we don’t have to.”  
  
Annie looked panicked, putting a hand up in defense. “No, it’s not that. I really want to, I just feel strange. Like something is off.”  
  
Worried, Mikasa propped herself up on her elbow. “Are you feeling okay?”  
  
“I feel fine. I just feel like this is a dream, like things are too perfect to be true. Every time something good happens to me, it ends up being ruined.”  
  
“Are you scared of snow?” Mikasa almost smiled.  
  
Annie shook her head. “No, of course not.. I love the snow, and I love you, so I’m scared.”  
  
“Nothing is going to happen, I promise. I love you, too.” Mikasa held her tight, not exactly sure how to feel about the situation at hand. Whatever had made Annie feel so nervous, it had an obvious deep impact on her.  
  
“I’m so tired of feeling cold..”  
  
“You are a very small girl.” Covers were pulled over the two of them, and Annie took her place once again against Mikasa’s chest, sighing lightly.  
  
“I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.” Mikasa placed a finger under Annie’s chin, tilting her head upwards with a smile. “We can go out to eat somewhere. Anything you want.”  
  
“That’d be great..” She smiled wearily, already starting to drift off at the feeling of warmth pressing against her.  
  
Mikasa snaked a protective arm around her, and she loved the way Annie’s breathing rose and fell silently like a breeze. It calmed her down immensely to have this girl by her side. She thought she would want it no other way forever.  
  
Annie was asleep before she could stop herself.  


* * *

  
“Annie.”  
  
Silence.  
  
“Annie, what are we going to do with you…”  
  
It felt like Annie had boulders tied to her eyelids when she awoke, and all of her energy was focused on just that one small flutter of movement. It was hard to take in her surroundings, but the first thing she noticed was the familiarity of deep grey eyes looking into hers.  
  
“Mikasa..” Annie would have smiled, if she had the energy. She was confused when Mikasa’s eyes went from peaceful to downright panicked.  
  
“Captain, she’s awake! Captain!”  
  
 _No._  
  
With sound similar to the scraping of an iceberg against an iron ship, both Annie and her crystal coffin came crashing to the ground, erupting into a million shards. Many landed on the stone floor around her, and some of them penetrated her skin. She heard Mikasa draw her blades, but the helpless way that Annie looked at her made her hand freeze above the hilt.  
  
“Keep it restrained, what are you doing!?”  
  
“Don’t touch her, she’s wounded!”  
  
“It will heal-”  
  
 _“Don’t touch her!”_  
  
Voices nearly broke her eardrums as she felt herself being dragged into Mikasa’s arms again, the feeling of her warmth nearly bringing her back into sleep.  
  
People were shouting, but still, Mikasa would not let go of her. It was a horrible idea, Annie knew; it was just a dream, anyway. She didn’t even remember the most of it. But despite that, she felt safe.  
  
The last thing she remembered was Mikasa frantically mouthing words to her, shaking her shoulder to try and keep her awake.  
  
And then, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who has kept up with this small series of mine. It has been amazing writing it, and although I had to push myself sometimes, I think I made a bigger step into getting back into writing again. For everyone that has given me kudos, comments, and the likes, it has meant the world to me. What would a writer be without the readers? Happy holidays to you all, and I couldn't thank you enough.


	9. The Lullaby of a Rebel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation after Annie's release into the real world.

‘ _My head.. is pounding_.’

Annie made to sit up on the hard surface, but a stinging and half numb sensation overtook her body, forcing her to gasp out any air in her lungs and jolt backwards onto the wooden boards supporting her body. “Ahhh..” she hissed. The ceiling seemed to move in distorted forms above her.

“You’re awake.”

God, not her voice again.

“What happened?” She asked Mikasa grudgingly, forcing her head to roll.

She was placed in a dreary jail cell no bigger than the average hotel bathroom. The place was cramped, and hard, and dirty. There was dirt in the corners, scratches on the walls, and some of the iron bars separating the two girls were bent at peculiar angles. It screamed of insanity and reeked of depression. She was clad in a robe that reminded her of a nightgown. Instinctively, she pushed the wandering thoughts of, “How did I change clothes” to the back of her mind for the time being.

Mikasa stared daggers at her from across the bars. It took Annie a mere moment to recognize the contempt on her face. “You broke out. Crystal shards went everywhere. They penetrated your own skin. You had one there,” Mikasa pointed at Annie’s leg, “under your arm was a big one, and a few smaller parts randomly scattered. It shot like shrapnel. You’re lucky to be breathing right now.”

Annie sat up on her side, bringing the small sheet that covered her body with her. “I see.”

“They will heal with time.”

‘ _That’s right. Why aren’t I healing?_ ’ Annie thought, touching the sticky wounds around her frame. They were swollen, and quite painful. With a grimace, Annie stopped picking at the dried blood, resuming her transfixed gaze to the wall.

They sat in silence. Complete silence with the exception of scuffling outside, which she assumed came from guards in the event that Annie should lose herself and go haywire. There were other things about herself and the enclosure that Annie noticed, too. Her ring was missing. An old leather cord was around Mikasa’s neck under her crimson scarf, housing an oblong key. It wasn’t Eren’s, despite their similarities. There was a bucket of water in the corner near some chains that she prayed they wouldn’t need to use on her. Her hair had grown longer, and her stomach was screaming at her from lack of food.

Reaching over to take hold of the bucket of water, Annie brought it heavily up to her lap and glanced over at Mikasa. That woman was looking anywhere and everywhere but at her face. How pathetic.

But wait.. squinting her eyes, Annie watched her actions closely. The way her head was tilted, looking past her shoulder. How her hair just barely covered her jawline, the graceful rising and falling of her chest, and how slowly and heavily her lashes fell when she blinked, even when she wanted to look threatening.

‘ _Did I… dream in that thing?_ ’

Images that connected like an iron chain flashed through her head of Mikasa’s smile, the smell of her hair, and many shockingly more intimate than that. Her smooth shoulders, her gasping, the feeling of her tongue as it made it’s way down the back of Annie’s neck, and how needy she felt when.. when…

Mikasa was staring back at her now, and Annie was quick to correct herself and glance down at the water as she felt her face heat up. The thought of Mikasa being able to tell what was going in her head through her half-lidded eyes made her want to panic. Why would she ever have a dream so stupid? What was she thinking? She didn’t even like girls. She didn’t even like anyone at all.. right?

Feeling most of her pride damped, she took a small sip of water from the wooden bucket, swallowing through it’s stale taste, and then began washing the grime off her face. So this is what it’s come to, huh? Water in buckets? She stared at her reflection until the surface came to a still, and she let out an audible gasp. “Mikasa..”

“What?”

“My face. What happened to my face?”

Finally, Mikasa glanced over at her mundanely. “Scars. They resemble your titan form. They seem to be fading,” she observed, leaning closer from the wall, “but they were there as soon as you crystallized yourself.”

Annie set the liquid aside and stepped closer to the gate, dragging the ghostly white sheet with her. “Are they going to stay there forever?”

After eyeing her suspiciously for a few seconds, Mikasa seemed to have decided that Annie really was, in a sense, helpless and feeding off her hand. She had the face of a domestic dog who just got their collar removed from their neck by the hands of their own trainer; confused, helpless, even lost. She walked towards the bars and knelt down grimly, squinting her eyes in the dim lighting to get a closer look at Annie’s markings. Her heavy eyelashes flashed once more in thought, eyeing Annie’s pale skin. “They seem to be-”

In a second, Annie’s hand flew through the air and her grip was on Mikasa’s scarf as she pulled her forward and forced their mouths together through the cold metal bars. The gate clanged around them, and Annie only had a mere two seconds to seize the key around her neck and snap the decaying leather loose before Mikasa’s lips parted in shock and made to move. A pit formed itself in Annie’s stomach as she felt the other girl’s smooth lips under her tongue before she skittered away.

Mikasa’s face was pure rage as she grabbed the bars, banging on them desperately as she glared in at the smug figure now on the ground. “Bitch! You fucking stole it!”

Was it the key, or the kiss that she meant? Either way, she was right about both, and Annie leaned back onto her wooden bedding, happily guarding her spoils.

Mikasa backed away from the bars, glaring at her all the time as a nearly unnoticeable figure walked behind her.

Tilting her head, Annie squinted at them. “Armin? Is that you?”

“Annie. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” He responded happily, clutching a board close to his chest. Mikasa moved slightly out of his way, but continued her never ending glare towards Annie. “Armin, she just--”

“You got glasses.” She pointed out, successfully interrupting. Glasses were expensive, and usually only given to people who were deemed more productive for the higher class with them rather than without them. Luckily, Armin barely showed any sign of hearing Mikasa in the first place.

“They help me see far away,” He said, “And so, you’ve changed as well. I like your hair down.”

“I hate it.”

“O-Oh..” He waved a hand over his face dramatically, laughing it off. “Sorry, if I offended you.. I’m just here to ask you questions.”

Mikasa responded before Annie had the chance. “Armin, she has the key to the cell.”

He barely blinked. “Let her have it.” At the shocked faces of both girls, Armin was forced to evaluate his decision. “Everyone is out to kill her right now, in both human and titan form. It would be suicide to leave. Annie is smart enough to know that. Whether she has the key or not, she’s going to stay in that cell,” He paused, looking at her, “Aren’t you, Annie?”

She felt eyes boring into her. ‘ _Fuck. That’s it, they have me._ ’ She nodded briefly, feeling her surges of pride diminish until they ended up fueling Mikasa’s. “You wanted to ask me things.”

He nodded sadly, taking a seat across from Annie on the floor while she continued to perch on her unstable bed. He placed his clipboard on his lap, taking the pen between his fingers, and began wasting no time.

“Are you affiliated with any outside terrorists?”

She noticed him glancing at the clipboard carefully, although Annie hadn’t responded yet. She felt unease make it’s way through her bones. “Define ‘terrorists’”.

“People who are against humanity or the walls.”

“No.. of course not..” Is this who they thought she was? A force of destruction for humanity?

Nodding, Armin jotted her answer down word for word. “Who are your friends in the Military Police brigade?”

She thought deeply about each question before saying a word to him. “The Military Police.. They are all there to save themselves. It is pointless to try and make friends.”

The questions went on for an hour. Stupid questions, as if they were getting to know one another for the first time. Who were friends were, what she wanted to do with her life, how her home life was, where she grew up.. They seemed meaningless to Annie, but must be a goldmine to Armin. She watched in fascination as his face relaxed after almost every answer she gave him. Annie had never lied to him, not outright, but she was confused as to why her lack of sturdy answers had somehow satisfied him. Mikasa listened silently the entire time, her scowl surrendering to curiosity.

“You aren’t an enemy to us.” Armin said, standing up, heading outside of the room.

“No.” Annie replied sadly after him, reluctant to see him go. ‘ _After all this time.. he’s changed so much, but so little_.’ “So-So wait, that’s it, you’re just going to leave like this?”

Armin looked like he would have turned his head back to see her, but he kept walking.. and with each step he took up those stone stairs, Annie felt her heart drop to a lower level until he was gone.

Mikasa’s soft voice interjected her thoughts. “I have a question.”

Startled, Annie gazed back at her blankly, permitting her to continue.

“Why?”

Annie took a breath, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. “Why should I tell you?”

“I don’t know, don’t you think I deserve it? You nearly killed Armin, killed me, killed Eren, our comrades.. you could have even gotten yourself killed! So many lives were lost, and for what? Nothing has advanced. Are you happy now?”

Annie’s eyes were closed in the sheer amount of effort it took to not lose it. “Mikasa. Think of all the reasons you fight for the people you love, and list them off for me.”

The heat started to drain itself from Mikasa’s face as she thought about the question proposed to her. “This is my home. I fight because it’s the right thing to do. So many people are killed outside the walls, mine would mean nothing if I could save others.”

“You fight for honor. You fight for yourself, your family-”

“I fight because I’m fighting for the good of humanity.” Mikasa snapped at her, knowing that she had pinned something that Annie could never match.

A light and airy laugh bounced off the walls of Annie’s chamber. She lied down on her side, still staring at her face though the bars and making out her features though the light of the crackling fire on the wall. “We both fight for the same reason. So tell me, little warrior, how am I any less human than you? Than Eren?”

Mikasa fell silent, her gaze threatening to turn hostile once again. Annie met it with a sigh. She knew that if Mikasa couldn’t win, she wouldn’t compete.

“They’ll put you on trial tomorrow.”

“Who cares.”

“You’ll need some sort of defense if you ever want to come out of this alive.”

“I made it this far, haven’t I?”

Mikasa looked over her with disgust. For all of what Mikasa had lost throughout this entire event, this is all Annie had to say for herself? That they had the same reason for fighting? Like hell. “You’re downright repulsive.”

“I know.”

Silence. Uncomfortable, suffocating silence. Annie wondered why there was a pit in her stomach, and Mikasa thought about how ruefully her first kiss was stolen from her. She wished she had bitten her.

“I’m sorry, Mikasa.”

If she heard it, it was completely unacknowledged. The silence consumed her until eventually the familiar sounds of the fire lulled her to a weak and unstable sleep, and then the highly unfamiliar voices of people she didn’t know jolted her awake. Oh, here we go again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this got so many comments telling me to update.. I'm so happy. And when do I decide to do it? Finals week, of course. I love you all to death, you're all so nice.. would you be interested if I gave you my Tumblr? It is sort of embarassing, though, as some of you who comment have the same username as your Tumblr and you already follow me hehe *nervous laughing*.  
> Thank you for all the views! In my later works you can look forward to a Resident Evil one and a Tomb Raider one. As for now, I have no idea where I am bringing this.. but somewhere deep.. dark.. and probably full of lesbian sex.


End file.
